Wild horses' destiny
by Ranma2
Summary: Ranma is taken from Genma at the age of fifteen by alien slavers. He is bought by Ayeka's father azusa. Crossover with tenchi muyo and a few other anime's involving space.
1. prologue

Ranma characters owned by Rumiko Takahashi, and Tenchi Characters are owned by who ever owns Tenchi muyo and any other series related. The intro to most chapters is most likely the intro to most outlaw star episodes, which means that the intros are not mine. I own nothing but some of the idea behind this fanfic. Please don't sue me. I am very poor.

Prologue

"A boy has the right to dream. There are endless possibilities stretched out before him. What awaits him down the path, he will then have to choose. The boy doesn't always know. At some point, the boy then becomes an adult, and learns what he was able to become. Joy and sadness forever will accompany this. He is confronted with a choice. When this happens, does he bid his past farewell in his heart? Once a boy becomes an adult, he can no longer go back to being a boy. The boy is now a man. Only one thing can be said. A boy has the right to dream. For those endless possibilities are stretched out before him. We must remember. All men were once boys."*

But what if the right to dream was taken from a boy? What if he was forced to grow up fast and never got to be a child? He is in a boy's body but is matured into a man. Those endless possibilities that he once dreamed of has left his mind, for he now knows that he has no choice now. At the young age of fifteen he has been taken and sold into slavery. He can no longer choose what to do in life or make his own decisions. This young man can only hope that the person that buys him will be a kind master. He has not lost his wildness or his strong will. He just no longer dreams. This is his story.  
* The writing in quotations is taken directly from the anime outlaw star.


	2. Ranmaniichan: Rewrite

Chapter 1 – Rewrite

It had been a year since the aliens arrived on earth. They did not waste any time with pleasantries or helloes; they just enslaved everyone as soon as they arrived. It happened so fast, and no one knew what was really going on. It was impossible to come up with any strategies or counter attacks. In one Foul swoop, the alien slavers had come and turned the human race into an endangered species on its own planet.

There were only two people present on the blue planet; one bloated, bald man who lacked a sense of honor, and the other was his son. The man, Genma Saotome, wore a bandana around his head and he donned a white karate gi. His son, Ranma Saotome, had jet-black hair that he tied into a loose ponytail, and he sported a white karate gi as well. Both of them looked a little worse for wear, and their clothes were in serious need of mending. However, in light of their current situation, they paid their clothes no mind.

Now, Genma may have had no honor, but he loved his son more than he loved anything else in the whole world. He did his best to teach him his family's martial art style: the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. He even went so far as to teach his son dangerous techniques that he, himself, sealed due to their deadly nature. He desperately hoped that his son would use these techniques to survive against the harsh attacks that came with fighting against the alien slavers. Genma was a proud man, but he knew that their luck was running out, and that he may not always be there to protect his son.

They ran through the forests of China in an attempt to escape the slavers. Father and son ran side by side at a pace that would put Olympic runners to shame. Ranma looked to his father as they ran. He had spent most of his life hating the man that called himself his father, but now that Genma was the only family that he had left, he would do anything to ensure that he could stay with him. It was then that Genma stopped running and came to a halt.

"Hey, pops, what's up?" Ranma asked as he came to a stop. He almost tripped over his own to feet in doing so, and he had to regain his balance.

"Ranma my boy, you go on ahead. I'll take care of them and catch up," Genma said as he turned his back to Ranma. He stood tall and strong, he was ready to give up his life to defend his son.

"No! Are you crazy?" Ranma yelled as he grabbed his father's shoulder and forced him to turn around. "They completely out number us!"

"Do it!" Genma yelled back as he shook off Ranma's hand. "They're gaining and I don't want you getting caught!"

"No old man! I'm staying right here!" Ranma shot back. He was not about to let his only family and friend stay behind so that he could run away.

"I won't let my heir get caught and enslaved by these, these things!" Genma yelled. He put extra emphasis on the word 'things'.

"It doesn't matter," Ranma said as he shook his head in desperation. "If you're gone I won't have anybody left!"

"Are you scared Ranma?" Genma taunted. He knew exactly what to say to coax Ranma into doing what he wanted. He had been training with the boy for nine years after all. "Just like a little girl!"

"I'm not scared of nothin'!" Ranma yelled in defiance.

"Then go," Genma commanded. Once again, he turned around to face the oncoming slavers.

"Fine," Ranma said in defeat. "But if you get caught I'll kill you!"

"I'd like to see you try!" Genma said with a smile. He did not look back to face his son. He only looked ahead, for he knew that if he looked back he might start to cry. In the end, he wanted Ranma to believe that his father was the strongest man on earth.

After Genma said his final words, Ranma left. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. A tear ran down Genma's cheek as he watched his son's retreating form. He knew that his son had surpassed him in the art a long time ago, and even though he would never say it to his face, he was proud of him. He hoped against hope that Ranma would remain safe, and that they were not truly the last humans on earth.

It was then that a group of twenty creatures finally caught up with Genma. The slavers stood about seven feet tall, and they had scaly, dragon like skin. They were naturally bald creatures with red serpentine eyes and sharp fangs. They wore bulky armor made of dark metals not found on earth, but judging by how quickly the aliens ran, they armor was extremely light or they were surprisingly fast despite wearing something so cumbersome. They were all equipped with guns so that they may stun their prey and take them back to their ship.

All of the creatures fired on Genma as soon as they were within range. However, Genma survived for a year fighting against the slavers, and he knew their fighting methods. He quickly ducked behind a tree and took cover. The slavers spread out to surround him, but one of the slavers came too close and Genma lunged forward to punch him in the face. While the slaver fell backward due to Genma's powerful blow, Genma positioned himself behind his attacker and knocked him out.

The remaining creatures snarled as they watched Genma knock out one of their own and use that opportunity to duck behind another tree. The leader of the pack lifted his arm and flicked his hand forward a few times to command the others to surround the tree that Genma had taken cover behind. Like before, they spread out around the tree, but this time they made sure not to get too close. They drew their guns and aimed where they believed Genma had taken cover, but to their surprise, he was not there. They looked around in confusion, to their knowledge it was impossible for a human to disappear into thin air.

Genma, however, was not an ordinary human. As soon as he made it behind the tree, he jumped high into the tree's branches. He watched the slavers from above and waited for his chance to strike. It was then that one of the slavers decided to look up and reveal Genma's position. Genma jumped down from the tree and landed on top of the slaver's head feet first. As strong as the alien was, he was not strong enough to support Genma's body weight, and his neck buckled under the pressure.

The slavers turned to their fallen comrade and watched as Genma fell to the ground. The slavers had never seen the pudgy human fall into such a weakened position in the past. One slaver decided to take full advantage of Genma's fallen state and ran over to kick him while he was down. However, to that particular slaver's horror, Genma sprung back to his feet and punched him in the face. The slaver reached for his gun, but Genma quickly reached towards the slaver and broke his arm at the elbow. The slaver writhed on the ground as Genma took his weapon.

Genma drew the gun and pointed it at the nearest slaver. This was the first time that he had the opportunity to use one of the slavers' weapons. Now that he had a gun made by the aliens' own, technology there was no way the slavers could stop him. At least, that was what he believed. He pulled what appeared to be the gun's trigger, but the gun did not fire. He feverishly pulled the trigger repeatedly, but it was to no avail. The last thing Genma felt was a sharp, burning sensation on the back of his neck before everything went black. The leader of the pack loomed over Genma as he smiled. Though he may not look like much, he could get a lot of money for someone so strong.

_

Ranma stopped running to catch his breath, but he quickly dropped into a defensive fighting stance. He could hear something following close behind him, and based off the way that things sounded, the chances of it being his father were extremely low. If he was correct, and the slavers had won, that meant that the slavers had already captured his father, and as if to confirm his suspicions, the same pack that was after him before came into view and quickly surrounded the young martial artist.

Ranma noticed that three were missing from the original twenty and smiled a cocky grin. At least his old man went down fighting. He knew that if his old man was going to go down, it was going to be swinging. He took comfort in that small fact, but that did not stop the tears from flowing down his face. It was then that it occurred to the young martial artist that he was truly alone in the world, and that there was no one left.

The first slaver that attacked Ranma shot at him from far away. Ranma quickly sidestepped the blast and shot a vacuum blade, one of the Saotome School's hidden techniques, as a counter attack. It sliced right through its intended target and chopped off another slaver's arm. It was then that all of the slavers, except for the slaver who was on the ground clutching its shoulder in pain, opened fire on the boy. They were completely unaware that humans had the ability to turn air itself into a weapon. At least, that is what the projectile attack had looked like to the slavers.

Ranma jumped high into the air and sent off two more vacuum blades towards the crowd of slavers beneath him. Two slavers fell to their deaths as the blades struck home and cut them in two. Shortly after the fallen slavers hit the ground, Ranma landed and rushed the slaver closest to him. The slaver raised his gun to shoot Ranma at point blank range, but Ranma delivered a back fist to the slaver's hand, disarmed him, and then sent a spinning whirl kick to his opponent's head to knock him out.

The leader of the group had stayed out of the fight and watched the battle from a short distance. He had wondered why they sent someone as experienced as he was to hunt down such a small number of humans, and now he had his answer. He silently waited for the boy to turn his back to him and focus on a group of his underlings. As soon as he knew that his prey's focus was off him, he delivered a swift kick to his ribs. The young earth boy fell to the ground and the slavers shot him repeatedly until they knew that he was, without a doubt, unconscious. The earth boy had taken down eleven of their own before the slavers defeated him.

The leader ordered what was left of his men to take the earth boy to their ship, and he made certain that they kept him separated from his father. Never in his life had anyone killed so many of his men before. Just the thought of losing so many men was absurd to him. He knew that he could sell the earth boy for much more than his father, but it just was not worth the lives of his men. However, he smiled regardless. The slavers had finally conquered earth. They could even take a small vacation when they were finished selling the goods.

_

Ranma awoke two days after his fight with the slavers. He attempted to get up but two small hands attached to a pair of slender arms immediately reached out and pushed him down. He took a deep breath to clear his head, but he quickly exhaled the air his lungs had taken in when he realized that breathing caused a sharp pain to shoot through his ribs where the slaver's leader had kicked him. He slowly opened his eyes to try to find out who restricted his movement.

The sight of a young woman, seemingly around his age, greeted Ranma as she looked down at him with worry. She had long black hair tied back in a ponytail, and a beautiful pair of hazel colored eyes. The second thing he noticed was that her skin was as white as snow. She definitely was not from Japan. Ranma tried to greet the girl that seemed to have tended to his injuries, but his mouth was dry and it was hard to swallow. He coughed uncontrollably and could not even choke out a proper introduction.

"You shouldn't move," the girl said. Her voice was soft and soothing. Despite Ranma's position, it made him feel at ease. He gave up on talking and remained silent until he finally found his voice again.

"They got me didn't they?" He asked. He already knew the answer.

"Yes they did," The girl, answered. "What did you do to them? They beat you really badly when they brought you here."

"I took out ten of their guys," Ranma smiled. He may have lost, but he still felt that he had some bragging rights. "Eleven if you count the guy whose arm I cut off."

"You killed some of them?" The girl asked, horrified. She believed that it was impossible to fight back against the salvers. Even if it were possible, the punishment for resisting must have been severe.

"Yes," Ranma answered. He was in pain, but his smiled never wavered. "I did."

"How?" The girl asked in slight disbelief. "They have guns and armor. They're really strong!"

"I'm strong too. I've been trained in the martial arts all of my life," Ranma said. He was not used to talking with anyone other than his father, and it was fun for him to brag about his exploits. "By the way, are we in space?"

"Yes. We're off to some planet to be sold." The girl answered with a sad look on her face. "I've been to planets like this before."

"So you must have been taken early," Ranma said in a serious tone as his smile faded from his face.

"I was one of the first ones that they took," The girl said with a nod. "There are so many races out there. My brother was bought by a katar'l-katar'l."

"A what?" Ranma questioned. He had never heard of anything called a katar'l-katar'l before.

"It's a cat like alien," The girl explained. "But they look very much like humans despite their feline qualities."

"Oh," Ranma said. It may not have been the most intelligent of words, but it fit his state of mind all the same. In truth, he did not much care what the different aliens looked like. He just wanted to go home.*

Shortly after the girl explained what a katar'l-katar'l was to Ranma, two little girls ran over to him. They seemed rather cheerful considering the fact that they were captives. Even more so, if they knew that the aliens were going to sell them into slavery. One of the girls had black hair that came down to her waist, and the other had shorter hair that she tied into two cute little pigtails. Both girls' clothes were tattered and dirty, but they did not seem to mind.

"Katy, is the boy up yet?" The girl with long hair asked.

"Yes he's up, but he needs his rest," The girl that had tended to Ranma answered. Apparently, her name was Katy. "So run along now and talk to Ryoga."

"Okay!" Both the little girls cheered before running off. Ranma watched them as they ran around cheerfully before they disappeared from his line of vision.

"Did you say Ryoga?" Ranma asked after the girls had left. "His last name wouldn't happen to be Hibiki would it?"

"Yes," Katy answered. "Why?"

"I used to go to school with him," Ranma explained with a cheerful smile. "He was one of my best friends!"

"Really?" Katy asked. It was rare for people to reunite with each other once the slavers took them. "I'll go get him later."

"Thanks," Ranma said. "One more question though?"

"What is it?" Katy asked. The boy that she had tended to held up pretty well to all of the new information that his new situation forced him to take in.

"You're American," Ranma said. He had noticed earlier that Katy belonged to one of the western continents, but one thing still bugged him. "How am I talking to you when I don't know your language but I keep hearing you speak it?"

"That's simple." Katy laughed. Everyone was always confused at first. "When they capture us they implant this thing into our head that allows us to understand each other. That way we'll know the languages of our new masters."

"Ya know, you're taking this awfully lightly," Ranma said. He failed to notice that he was the one that took things too lightly.

"I've been here for close to a year," Katy sighed. She had already grown used to her new life. It was then that Ranma decided to stretch his legs. "DON'T GET UP!"

"I'm feeling okay now," Ranma whined. "I heal quickly."

"I still think you should rest," Katy said in an exasperated tone. She did not know what to do if Ranma kept trying to get up. He would never heal if he did not allow his body to rest. Unfortunately, someone had different plans for the young martial artist.

"RANMA SAOTOME," bellowed a familiar, rage filled voice. "PREPARE TO DIE!"

"Hey Ryoga!" Ranma greeted as he sat straight up in his makeshift bed. "What's up?"

The voice belonged to none other than Ryoga Hibiki, Ranma's old childhood friend. Ryoga Hibiki was a young boy about Ranma's height and build. He had black hair and he kept a yellow bandana tied around his forehead. He also wore a simple, yellow, long sleeve shirt and green, baggy pants. The slavers had a tough time capturing him due to his monstrous strength.

Ryoga lunged at Ranma with all of his might. Ranma, despite the pain he was in, jumped out of the way and flipped over Ryoga's head. Ranma cringed a bit when he landed, and he subconsciously brought his left hand to his bruised ribs. Even Ryoga could tell that Ranma was in pain, but that would never quench his anger. Ryoga thanked his lucky stars for having given him the chance to punch in Ranma's face one last time.

"C'mon man!" Ranma yelled. He had expected a friendly reunion when he heard that he and Ryoga were on the same ship. "We haven't seen each other in years! What are ya so mad about?"

"Why weren't you at our duel Ranma?" Ryoga yelled in frustration. He fully expected his first attack to knock Ranma dead.

"I was at the duel Ryoga," Ranma answered. One could feel the annoyance practically oozing from his voice.

"Not when I got there!" Ryoga shot back.

"I waited three days!" Ranma whined. He threw his hands up in the air to emphasize his point, but he quickly brought them back down with a flinch due to the pain that it caused to his ribs.

"Oh sure!" Ryoga yelled as he took an offensive fighting position. "You waited three days! But when I got there on the fourth day you had already turned tale and left for china with your father!"

Ryoga rushed forward and tossed another strong punch Ranma's way. Ranma grabbed Ryoga's punch and tossed Ryoga across the room. Immediately after throwing Ryoga, Ranma wished that he had not moved at all. Pain shot through Ranma's side as he dropped to one knee. Perhaps Katy was right, and he should rest after all. Luckily, for him, he threw Ryoga behind a large group on inmates. It would take Ryoga forever and a day to find him again with his bad sense of direction.

"Are you okay?" Katy asked as she rushed to his side. "Ryoga's usually so kind to the other slaves."

"I'll be okay," Ranma said as he allowed himself to fall on his back. "I just need to rest a bit."

"I believe it," Katy said. "What you said earlier, I mean."

"Believe what?" Ranma asked. Katy would have to be a bit more specific if she wanted Ranma to know what she meant.

"That it took him four days to get to the duel." She clarified. She noticed that Ranma was trying to get up again so she decided to give him a hand.

"The duel was in the empty lot behind his house." Ranma said. He wanted her to know just how bad Ryoga's sense of direction really was.

"I still believe it," Katy sighed. She too, witnessed Ryoga's bad sense of direction first hand. "And I thought you two were friends."

"So did I," Ranma sighed. It would seem that Katy's sigh had become contagious. "Anyway he's probably lost in the crowd or something. Let's get something to eat."

"We get fed twice a day," Katy told Ranma. Ranma still did not seem to grasp his current situation.

"Only twice?" Ranma asked in disbelief. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner happened to be Ranma's favorite parts of the day.

"We get fed once for breakfast and once for dinner," Katy explained. "And we don't get seconds, in case you were wondering."

"That sucks," Ranma complained. How could they expect him to survive on only two meals a day?

"We 'are' slave you know." Katy said. She put extra emphasis on the word 'are' to help get her point across.

"Yeah, but still!" Ranma tried. However, his complaints fell on deaf ears. No matter how much he complained to Katy, his situation would never improve.

"Any way, we should be arriving on the planet tomorrow," Katy said. She knew that the slavers would try to sell Ranma as soon as possible. "Go get some sleep."

"Okay," Ranma said as he made his way to the makeshift bed that he slept on earlier. "Can you wake me up when it's time for dinner?"

"Of course," Katy smiled.

"Thank you," Ranma said as he lay down. "Goodnight."

With those final words, Ranma Saotome, of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, fell asleep.

_

The next day Ranma woke to the sensation of having his hands bound and cuffed. Afterwards the slavers led him, as well as the other slaves, to a large stand where they held auctions. The slavers proceeded to put Ranma in a line with the other slaves so that auctioneers may view him at their leisure. One by one, the slaves walked down from the stand with their new masters. Ranma was dumbfounded when he noticed how many different types of Alien races there were in the universe. He learned the names of most of the alien races through hearsay amongst the crowd, as well as idle chat amongst the other slaves. He made sure to pay close attention to one race's name especially; an alien known as an Oni had purchased Katy later on in the day. He finally made a new friend, but fate deemed it necessary to take her away from him just as it did his father.

Eventually, a Juraian noble came to inspect Ranma. At least, Ranma believed that the man was a Juraian noble. To his understanding, Juraian nobles were all arrogant, extremely wealthy, and annoyingly flamboyant. In that regard, Ranma preferred the Oni whose race seemed down to earth, laid back, and easy going. Furthermore, the Oni seemed to have the interesting quirk of wearing tiger striped clothing. If an alien must purchase Ranma, Ranma hoped that his new master would be someone like the Oni.

"What is your name boy?" The Juraian asked. The noble's voice gave away that the man was a snob, and Ranma's nose could barely take the smell of the man's cologne.

"Ranma Saotome," Ranma answered in a cheeky tone. "What's yours?"

"You will watch your tone with me, slave!" The noble practically hissed. He picked up right away that Ranma held no respect for him.

"You will watch your tone with me, slave!" Ranma mocked. He tried to make his voice sound a bit higher so that he could match the man's voice. However, Ranma's voice just did not go that high.

"Be silent," The noble ordered. He began to furrow his brow in anger.

"Be silent," Ranma mimicked. All the while, he had a giant grin on his face.

"Stop it!" The noble yelled.

Ranma continued to mock the noble in front of him. If he learned one thing from his father, it was how to get under someone's skin and make their blood boil. Eventually the noble had enough, and the Juraian took a swing at Ranma. Ranma easily sidestepped the noble's pathetic attempt at a punch and popped the Juraian in the chin with a well-placed snap kick. The kick knocked the Juraian noble off the auction stands and out of his own consciousness. Ranma stood tall and smiled at his small accomplishment, but that victory was short lived and he quickly lost his own conscious state after he felt a fierce, shocking sensation on the back of his neck. As Ranma drifted into la-la land, he made a quick mental note of his current situation. "Don't hit the customers after mocking them."

_

The next day Ranma woke to the sound of two little girls crying. Ranma remembered that Katy hat told him that their names were Natsumi and Yuri. If he remembered correctly, Natsumi was the girl with long hair, and Yuri was the girl with the short pigtails. However, he remembered those little girls as being overly cheerful, and they were able to play on a slave ship as though they were in a playground back on earth. Of course, Ranma was inclined to find out what had happened to them. No matter what their ages might be Ranma could never stand the sight of a crying girl.

"What's wrong you two?" Ranma asked as he slowly rose from his makeshift bed.

"K-Katy was s-sold yesterday," Natsumi said in between sobs.

"She took care of us," Yuri cried. "She was like our big sister."

"Um, I could take care of you," Ranma offered. He could tell that the five year olds in front of him were not as carefree as he had originally thought. It broke his heart to see them so distraught.

"Really?" Yuri asked. She tried to stop her tears, but only a little.

"Sure! That is until I get sold," Ranma said with a huge smile. He had meant to cheer the girls up again, but his last sentence only made them cry harder. "Hey, C'mon, I'm sure I won't get sold for a while. I mean, I did just knock out a Juraian noble the other day. I'm pretty sure everyone's too scared to buy me now!"

"Y-you did?" Natsumi asked.

"Yes, I did," Ranma answered. "That's why I came back early the other day. At least, I think I came back early."

"You'll really take care of us?" Yuri asked as hope returned to her eyes.

"Sure," Ranma said as he pointed to his chest with his thumb. "You can even call me onii-chan or whatever you want!"

"Really?" both girls squealed in unison.

"Really," Ranma said with an enthusiastic nod.

"Okay, Ranma-nii-chan!" Yuri said with a huge smile.

The girls still had tears in their eyes, but Ranma could tell that he had succeeded in cheering them up a bit. He always wanted to have a little brother or sister, and now he had two. Now all he had to do was find a way to stop the aliens from buying him. As long as he continued to knock out any would-be buyers, everything should work out just fine. At least, that is what Ranma believed.

"RANMA SAOTOME," Rang the familiar voice of Ryoga Hibiki. "PREPARE TO DIE!"

"Not now," Ranma said to himself. Ryoga seemed to have a knack for barging in at the wrong time. "What did I do this time?"

"Because of you," Ryoga started as he rushed Ranma. "Katy was sold and Natsumi and Yuri don't have anyone to look after them anymore!"

"But Ryoga-san," Yuri said. "Ranma-nii-chan said that he would look after us!"

"That still doesn't give him the right to do what he did!" Ryoga yelled. Today would be the day that he taught Ranma a lesson. "Take this Ranma!"

Ryoga tried to throw a series of punches at Ranma to throw him off his guard. Ranma, however, just deflected the punches with ease and then knocked Ryoga back a few feet with a swift sidekick to his chest. Ranma and his father, along with a guide, came across an abandoned Amazon village in China. While they stayed in that village, Genma found a stockpile of old Chinese scrolls filled with ancient martial arts techniques that the guide translated for them. After learning all of the techniques in those scrolls, defeating Ryoga was child's play.

Ryoga, however, was never one to give up. He came back at Ranma with a flying sidekick aimed straight at his skull. Ranma ducked Ryoga's kick and allowed the angry, yellow clad martial artist pass right over him. As soon as Ryoga landed, he dashed towards Ranma's back in another attempt to strike Ranma. All the while, Ranma waited until the last possible second and delivered an extremely high back kick that hit Ryoga right in the face. That attack would have knocked anyone senseless, but Ryoga had no sense in the first place and the attack did not disturb him much; it just made him angrier.

"Is that all you've got, man?" Ranma asked as he turned around with a smirk. "I thought that you would be a lot stronger than this."

"Shut up you!" Ryoga yelled as he attempted to strike Ranma with a roundhouse kick. Ranma, tired of the fight, jumped over Ryoga's kick and delivered a jump snap kick to Ryoga's chin. While Ryoga's head jerked back due to the force of Ranma's kick, Ranma landed and delivered a hard blow to Ryoga's solar plexus. After that treacherous blow Ryoga finally fell to the ground, defeated.

"That'll teach him." Ranma snorted. He did not mind sparring every now and again, but sometimes Ryoga took things excessively far.

"Wow, Ranma-nii-chan, You're strong!" Yuri cheered as she ran up and hugged Ranma's leg.

"Of course I am Yuri," Ranma bragged. "I'm the best!"

"Could you teach us how to do that?" Natsumi asked. "I want to be able to flip in the air and do cool things like that too!"

"Sure, I guess I could," Ranma said as he placed his right index finger to his chin in thought. "When do you wanna start?

"Now!" They both yelled.

"Okay. Do as I do," Ranma said as he dropped into a basic martial arts stance. He bent his knees so that his legs were at ninety-degree angles. It almost looked as though he were sitting on an invisible chair. "This is always the first stance that most people learn. It's called the Horse Stance."

Natsumi and Yuri both tried to mimic Ranma, but their stances looked rather sloppy. When Ranma noticed, he got out of his stance and corrected Natsumi and Yuri's stances. Once they had the Horse Stance down, he taught them another basic martial arts stance that was easy to learn. This process continued for about an hour or so before Ranma told them to call it quits. He did not want to overwork the poor girls, just give them a small workout. He knew that they had a lot of excess energy and that they could probably take it, but he did not want to take any risks.

Ranma liked the girls. It was nice to have some friends with him while he was a prisoner, and he could only hope that his father had made some new friends of his own as well. He silently wondered what his father was doing, but he quickly banished those thoughts from his mind. If he knew his father, Genma probably sat around and did nothing all day. Though he admitted that his father was strong, he could never imagine anyone ever wanting to buy the man. He was far too lazy to make a good slave.

_

On another ship, Genma sat his day away and did absolutely nothing. However, to say that he did absolutely nothing may not be entirely correct. He spent the entirety of his stay on the slaver's ship in deep meditative thought. There had to be a way to find his son and get back to earth. He desperately hoped that Ranma was still on earth, but Genma knew that there were far too many slavers for Ranma to handle on his own. It was not until Genma heard a familiar voice the he finally broke out of his meditation.

"Saotome!" A tall man with shoulder length, black hair and a mustache cried. He ran to Genma with open arms, and three young girls followed close behind him. "Is that you Saotome?"

"Yes, it is!" Genma cried as he turned around and embraced his old friend. "Is that really you Tendo?"

"Oh, it's so good to see you Saotome." The mustached man, Soun Tendo, cried. "I thought I'd never see you again. Where is your son Ranma?"

"They took him to a different ship," Genma said. His tears flowed, but his voice was as hard as stone. "They told me that he had taken out eleven of his captors, and he killed most of them. I took out three, myself. They must have been scared of our great power and separated us!"

"There is no way he could have taken out eleven!" One of the girls that followed Soun yelled. She had long black hair, and she seemed to be quite the tomboy. "I only took out one, and I'm the best martial artist in Nerima!"

"Who is this Tendo?" Genma asked.

"Oh! Let me introduce you," Soun said. He pointed to each girl as he gave his introduction. "This is my youngest daughter, Akane. She is fifteen."

"Hmph," Akane snorted. She did not like the man that her father was introducing her to, and she made little effort to hide it.

"This is my middle daughter, Nabiki." Sound introduced. "She's sixteen."

"Hi there," Nabiki said with a short wave. She may not have been the friendliest of people, but she was certainly more amiable than her younger sister was. She had short brown hair and a bob cut.

"And this," Soun continued. "Is my eldest daughter, Kasumi. She's nineteen."

"How do you do?" Kasumi asked with a short bow. She had long brown hair that she tied back into a ponytail. She was the friendliest and most feminine out of the three sisters.

"And this is my best friend, Genma," Soun said to finish his introduction. "It's been so long!"

"You have three very lovely daughters Tendo." Genma said with a nod. "And as for what you said earlier, Akane. My son, Ranma has been training for close to ten years in the art. We traveled from training ground to training ground, he fought opponent after opponent, and he soaked up every bit of information that he could. We even found an abandoned village with many ancient techniques hidden within it."

"Really, now that is interesting," Soun commented. The thought of learning ancient techniques excited Soun.

"I wasn't able to learn them all, but Ranma did," Genma said as he puffed out his chest with pride. "I even taught him the Saotome School's forbidden techniques. You may be the best in Nerima young lady, but my son is the best of his generation, if not the world."

"I could beat him." Akane growled. "He's just some boy!"

"A boy with the world's most deadly techniques at his disposal," Genma said with a sloppy grin.

"We must get him back Saotome!" Soun cried as he clutched onto Genma's shoulders. "For our two schools must be joined!"

"You are right Tendo! This is Genma's-" Genma yelled. He trailed the end of his sentence a bit so that his friend could finish it for him.

"And Soun's- " Soun continued without skipping a beat. They hugged onto each other's shoulders as they spoke.

"Operation get the groom!" They shouted in unison.

"What?" All three girls shouted in unison as well. However, their shouts were not as planned and practiced as their fathers' were.

"A long time ago Saotome and I agreed that our two schools would be united by his son marrying one of my daughters," Soun explained with a happy smile.

"Father," Kasumi asked. "How is he going to marry any of us? Space is so large, and we're slaves now."

"I don't know," Soun admitted. "But we'll find away!"

"What does he look like?" Nabiki asked. "Is he cute?"

"Nabiki!" Akane screamed in disgust.

"Here's his picture," Genma said. He took out a picture that he kept hidden in his sleeve. Nabiki took the photograph from Genma and inspected it for a few seconds before returning the item back to its rightful owner.

"I approve," Nabiki said with a smile. Akane just glared at her older sister vehemently.

"Well," Tendo said happily. "That solves which one he's going to marry!"

"Mr. Saotome, do you still have any scrolls from that village you came across?" Akane asked hopefully. If Ranma learned ancient fighting techniques, Akane wanted to prove that she was every bit as capable as he was.

"Nope," Genma said as he shook his head. "Those are all in the village. There were too many for us to carry so we learned what we could and left."

"Oh." Akane said in disappointment.

"Don't worry," Genma said to comfort the girl. "You probably wouldn't be able to learn most of them anyway!"

"What?" Akane screamed. Obviously, his comment had an opposite effect on Akane. Genma suffered from foot-in-mouth syndrome; something hereditary in the Saotome family. "Ranma learned them! Why can't I?"

"You don't have the proper chi training," Genma answered as nicely as possible. He did not want to make the girl any angrier. "I don't sense that you have the necessary chi control to master most of the techniques found on those scrolls. Unless you can mask it well, that is."

"How strong is Ranma Mr. Saotome?" Nabiki asked.

"He could beat both your father and me up with ease." Genma answered as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

"That strong, huh?" Nabiki asked. She wanted to confirm that Genma wasn't over exaggerating.

"Yes." Genma said with a nod of his head.

"Wow." Nabiki said with a whimsy smile.

"You sure raised a fine boy Saotome," Soun laughed as he patted Genma's shoulders. "You raised a fine boy indeed!"

"Thanks Soun!" Genma said.

Nope. Ranma's father, Genma Saotome, had nothing to do at all.

End Chapter 1 – Rewrite

AN: Okay, I've decided to rewrite all of the chapters that got messed up by . That would be all of them except for "No Need for Tenchi!" It may take a short while, but I should have them all up eventually. If there's any errors I'm sorry. I consider this to be a rough draft. I'm actually kind of sleep deprived right now -_-.

Anyway, read and review. For those that remember how this chapter used to be, please tell me if you liked the changes I made...or tell me if you hated them. Believe it or not, I really do listen to you guys and try to better myself through your reviews. If you do find HUGE errors please tell me. I'll correct them when I get the chance.

* Genma never taught Ranma the Neko-ken. Ranma also never went to Jusenkyo.


	3. Meet Ayeka

Chapter 2  
Three months from when Ranma was first captured. Ranma was doing fine. He kept training so he didn't lose his edge and kept his promise to look after Natsumi and Yuri. Ranma bore a deep hatred for the slavers. He witnessed some of his friends get killed or beaten close to death by the people that took him. Ranma grinned to himself. Nobody bought him yet. Maybe they didn't like his greeting. Punching people in the face whenever they look at you really puts a damper on your relationship. Ranma turned sixteen almost a month ago. Yuri and Natsumi tried to throw him a little birthday party. Even Ryoga tried to help out. Of course he got lost in the middle of the party and wound up in the jail cell for a few days. How Ryoga got out of the locked door without breaking it down or even opening it Ranma is still trying to figure out.  
  
But now it was time for Ranma to get ready for the days sales. He politely waited in line then when some one came to buy him he would knock them unconscious. Today was different though. The emperor of Jurai was looking for a slave or servant for his daughter Ayeka. Today was her birthday and though he liked the floating guardians Hazaka and Kamedaki, they couldn't do much due to the fact that they don't have arms or legs. So he needs to hire a servant capable of housework. He was currently looking down the line of slaves. Half of them were weak from being starved or beaten and the other half were just children. He finally came across someone that seemed to be healthy and quite strong. He approached Ranma.  
  
Ranma smiled his widest smile. This one was going to be fun punching out. The man approached Ranma and before he could cock his hand back Ranma stopped. This guy was different from the other guys that tried to buy him. Instead of being a snob or anything, he seemed to have an air of power around him. Not like any of those nobles he hated so much.  
  
"What is your name boy?" The Juraian emperor asked. Ranma noticed that his voice wasn't snobby at all.  
  
"Ranma Saotome." He answered.  
  
"How old are you?"  
  
"Sixteen."  
  
Azusa the Juraian emperor thought for a few seconds. That was the equivalency in earth years to what his daughter was. Though she was much much older than him in over all years. She had the mind and body of a sixteen year old.  
  
"Can you work?" Azusa asked.  
  
"Yes. I can do most likely anything ya want me to do."  
  
Azusa hesitated. Slang use of the word 'you' can always be corrected. And he was the only one here that looked like he could do work of any kind. Well that is, except for that other boy with that bandanna but he keeps head butting everyone who tries to buy him. Azusa told Ranma to wait where he was and walked over to the slavers.  
  
"I'll buy him." Azusa said to the slavers pointing toward Ranma. The slavers started to panic.  
  
"Are you sure you want him? Have you talked to him yet?" One said in a panicky voice.  
  
"Yes. I've talked to him. Why?" Azusa asked, beginning to lose his patience.  
  
"He beats up everyone who tries to buy him! When we tried taking him from his planet he took out eleven out of seventeen of us."  
  
Azusa's eyes bulged for a moment. That was unheard of. The slavers are strong creatures. Humans shouldn't be able to even hurt them due to their tough skin. Most Juraians have to put some power into their attacks as well. Grown Juraians not of royalty that is. And this human boy took out eleven of them?  
  
"He killed nine and injured two. One of those two had his arm chopped off by his attacks." Another one said.  
  
"I am buying him as a servant for my daughter. He won't hurt her will he?" Azusa said with some fright in his voice.  
  
"I don't think so. He doesn't hit girls. He actually gets quite angry when he witnesses it happen. Once he left the stand to help a girl who had been hit by a thief. He almost killed the guy!"  
  
"So he won't harm my daughter?"  
  
"No. But you can never be too sure."  
  
"I'll just have to be careful then. If this works out, I may just have a guardian for my daughter as well. Like I said before.I'll buy him."  
  
"Sold. He is worth five hundred jurai."  
  
Azusa paid the money then walked over to Ranma.  
  
"I just bought you. Come with me." Azusa said in a commanding voice.  
  
As Azusa and Ranma started walking off, Ryoga noticed and started venting. He wasn't about to let Ranma abandon Yuri and Natsumi!  
  
"RANMA SAOTOME, PREPARE TO DIE!" Ryoga yelled while rushing Ranma.  
  
Ranma turned around and kicked Ryoga in the chin knocking him to the ground. Ranma knew what this was about. He knew this was about Natsumi and Yuri. But there was just something about the person who bought him. He had to fallow.  
  
"Ryoga."  
  
"WHAT?" Ryoga yelled.  
  
"Take care of Natsumi and Yuri for me, and tell them that I'll miss them."  
  
"But.Ranma.How can I tell them? You know what it was like when Katy left."  
  
"Tell them that I have a master now. That I have to go."  
  
"Okay.I'll tell them."  
  
And with that, Ranma left with Azusa. It was the saddest time in the world for Ryoga. He lost a friend and a rival that day.  
  
While walking to the ship that would take them to Jurai, the emperor thought he should fill Ranma in on some details. And to make sure that he wasn't dangerous.  
  
"Ranma. I am Azusa, Emperor of Jurai. I bought you to be a servant for my daughter. It is her birthday today. I heard rumors of what you did to others who tried to buy you and that you took out eleven of the slavers before you were taken. Is this true?"  
  
"Um.yes sir."  
  
"Your not going to hurt my daughter are you? If you do I'll kill you my self."  
  
"I don't hit girls." Ranma said almost force of habit.  
  
"That's good to here."  
  
They continued on their way in silence. They finally came to the ship. Azusa entered first. Then Ranma. What happened next surprised Ranma to no end.  
  
"He's so cute!" Masaki, Azusa's wife squealed before running up and glomping him. "Oh Azusa! How did you find a servant for Ayeka that's so cute?" She squealed again in her squeaky voice.  
  
"Okay Masaki, let go." Azusa ordered. Masaki quickly let go and sat down in an empty seat. "Ranma I'd like you to meat my wives. Funaho and Masaki."  
  
"You have two wives?" Ranma asked.  
  
"It is customary for a Juraian emperor to have two wives."  
  
"Oh." Ranma said, still quite confused. "Hello." He said bowing to Masaki and Funaho.  
  
"He's perfect Azusa." Funaho said.  
  
"I still say that we should have gotten her a pet. Pets are so cute!" Masaki said going into her own little world. Every one just sweat dropped.  
  
"Ranma, before presenting you to Ayeka, we must get you cleaned and put in descent close." Azusa said. He clapped twice and two servants came in and guided Ranma out of the room. This was then followed by a series of...  
  
"Hey! Quit it. WATCH WHERE YOU'RE PUTTING YOUR HANDS PALE. Put that down. Help!"  
  
It was quite hard to hold in Azusa's laughter. But laughing at Ranma would not be an Emperor thing to do.  
  
Ranma was now wearing Juraian clothing. It wasn't as fancy as a noble or the Emperor's, but it was better than what the other servants wore, and Ranma noticed this. His hair was cleaned and his ponytail was put into a braided pigtail.  
  
"How come I'm not dressed like the other servants? Isn't that what I was bought for?" Ranma winced a little bit. He didn't like being compared to in- adamant objects.  
  
"You were bought for my daughter Ayeka. So you will most likely be better dressed than the other servants. Your room will also be separated from the other servants. Your living quarters will be next to Ayeka's so that you can get to her more quickly when she calls."  
  
"Um.I may not be aloud to, but do you think I could train in the martial arts while I'm living with you? I'm one of the best where I come from and don't want to lose my edge."  
  
"I don't see why not. I could get some of our warriors to spar with you from time to time. So from what I can tell, you are a warrior on your planet?"  
  
"Yes.and no. I was trained in the art of fighting all of my life but I never participated in any wars or anything. I just traveled around with my father and helped those in need."  
  
"You say that you were one of the best. Can you name people that are stronger than you?"  
  
"No. I don't know anyone from earth stronger than me.but I'm sure there's at least one."  
  
"How are you with a sword?"  
  
"I'm okay. My style deals with hand to hand combat, but I was taught how to use all the weapons, and as the slavers came I became better with them."  
  
"Now that I know you can fight, I want you to protect my daughter as well."  
  
"I probably would have done that even if you didn't tell me to."  
  
There was an awkward silence for a few minutes and since there was at least another hour before they reached Jurai's royal palace Azusa wanted to talk some more. He found Ranma to be an interesting individual and expected him to do his job well.  
  
"My wife, Funaho is from earth."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes. It made her sad when she found out that everyone from earth had been enslaved. She bought a few hundred slaves and put them on earth so that it can be repopulated some day."  
  
"That's going to take at least a hundred years though! She'll never get to see it!"  
  
"That's how long we live. We live well over one thousand years. Ayeka herself is a few hundred, but she looks and acts like she's sixteen. We age differently than the people on earth. You will be given Jurai's water and you will live that long as well."  
  
"Really? I could get really good at the martial arts if I lived that long."  
  
"From what I hear, your already better than most of the people on Jurai. The only people better than you are my son Yosho, my self and the royal guards."  
  
"I wouldn't mind sparing against your son if he's that strong. I'm always looking for opponents stronger than myself."  
  
"I'm sure that he would love to spar with you, but he left shortly to battle a space pirate called Ryoko. I would like you to meet him when he gets back." Azusa said. Azusa was starting to like Ranma. He was starting to like Ranma a lot.  
  
"That would be great! And after fighting this space pirate he must be even stronger when he gets back!"  
  
"You think so?"  
  
"I know so! After every fight I get better. He must be getting better as well!"  
  
Azusa smiled. Yosho would make a fine heir to the throne. And he was glad that Ranma thought so highly of him. And when Yosho gets back he and Ayeka will be wed. Oh happy day!  
  
Back on Genma's ship.  
  
"Soun! Hand me the needle! I think I can pick the lock!"  
  
"Quite right Saotome! Quite right!" Soun hands Genma a long needle so that he can pick the lock to the cell door. What Genma didn't expect was to be thoroughly electrocuted when he did so. Genma was a charred mess on the floor.  
  
"Whaaaaaaaaa! My best friend is dead!" Tendo screamed while going into a crying fit.  
  
"I'm *cough* quite okay *Wheeze* Tendo." Genma managed in-between breaths.  
  
"Oh lucky day! My best friend is alive!" Tendo cried.  
  
"When are they going to realize that they can't just break out?" Nabiki asked.  
  
"I'm not sure Nabiki but this place is getting dirty. I think I should start cleaning it." Kasumi said in her usual cheerful voice.  
  
Nabiki just stared at Kasumi for a few seconds. How could she even think about cleaning this place? Where would she get the proper cleaning tools? Then she found out. Kasumi walked to the cell door and knocked on it a few times.  
  
"Oh Mr. Slavers. May I have some dusters and towels? I would like to clean this cell up. It's starting to stink."  
  
"Sure. Why not?" The door opened a few minutes later then Kasumi was given what she asked for.  
  
"Thank you very much." She said happily.  
  
"Did you see that Tendo?"  
  
"Yes I did Saotome!"  
  
"Lets try."  
  
Genma knocked on the door a few times and waited for a reply. When he finally got one he made his request.  
  
"Mr. Slaver. May I get out of here so that I can find my lost son? He was taken to another ship and I must find him!" Genma said faking tears.  
  
"No!" The guard yelled.  
  
"Why not?" Genma asked irritated.  
  
"Because you're an idiot if you think I'll let you out of here. The only way you're getting out of here is if you're sold!"  
  
"Well! That didn't go well." Genma said plopping himself down.  
  
"What will we do Saotome? What will we do?" Mr. Tendo said on the verge of tears.  
  
"We will fight on! And grasp my son from the jaws of slavery!" Genma said while striking a dramatic pose.  
  
"Mr. Saotome. Why don't you just wait till your bought then escape to go find your son?" Akane asked. She did this to mock him but Genma took it seriously.  
  
"That is a great idea Akane! Now all I have to do is escape and find out where Ranma is!" Genma said jumping for joy.  
  
"That's my daughter! A genius and a half!" Tendo said while dancing with Genma.  
  
"We will all escape together!" Genma said with glee.  
  
"They might not buy all of us together though." Akane said bursting their bubble.  
  
"Then when I'm bought, I'll free Ranma, and we'll come back for you!"  
  
Akane was sick and tired of hearing about Ranma. Ranma this, Ranma that, she was the best martial artist in Nerima! She could take him on easily! At least, that's what she thought.  
  
Back to where Ranma is.  
  
Ranma couldn't help but be amazed at the beauty of the Juraian palace. It was huge. And was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life. Better than the imperial palace in his opinion. He just stood there and stared at it with his mouth hanging wide open.  
  
"Come on Ranma. Time to meet your new master."  
  
"Yes sir." Ranma closed his mouth and followed Azusa, Funaho, and Masaki into the palace.  
  
As soon as they stepped inside Azusa's two daughters greeted them. Ayeka and Sasami were their names. Ayeka was sixteen and had purple hair that went down to her knees. Sasami was seven years old and had blue hair with two long pigtails on each side of her head. He noticed That Ayeka had a wooden Tiara type object on her head and Sasami had strange markings on her forehead.  
  
"Mommy!" Sasami Yelled before running up to Masaki, and giving her a big hug. After the two got done hugging and stuff that daughter and mother do, Ranma noticed that Masaki seemed to glare at Ayeka. Ayeka then took in a deep breath and in the best two-year-old cutesy voice she could muster.  
  
"Mommy! Your home!" She too, ran up to and gave Masaki a big hug.  
  
"Ayeka!" Masaki squealed. "Happy birthday!"  
  
"Thank you Mommy!" Ayeka squealed back. Azusa coughed trying to get their attention. They stopped hugging and looked at him.  
  
"Ayeka, I would like you to meet Ranma Saotome. He is your servant from now on. Say hello Ranma."  
  
"Um. hello." Ranma said then bowed. Being on a training trip with his father for so long didn't give him much time to talk to girls, so he was quite nervous. The only reason he could talk to Katy was because he was in a little bit of pain at the time.  
  
"Hello Ranma. I am Ayeka." Ayeka said doing a similar bow. Just not as stiff.  
  
"And I'm Sasami!" Sasami said cheerfully. She was always happy to make new friends, especially because when living in the palace, she doesn't have many.  
  
"Hello Sasami." Ranma said bowing. He wasn't too sure, but he thought bowing was a good idea. She is royalty after all.  
  
"Wanna be friends?" Sasami asked hopefully. Ranma smiled. He liked Sasami.  
  
"Sure! That would be nice." Ranma didn't notice the starry look in Masaki's eyes. She thought that the scene in front of her was just too cute.  
  
"Ayeka. Please show Ranma around the palace. This will be his home from now on."  
  
"Yes father." Ayeka said with a smile, and then walked off. "Please follow me Ranma."  
  
Ranma followed Ayeka through the long and endless halls. This place was seriously starting to intimidate him. He may not have Ryoga's sense of direction, but he was sure that he would get lost at least once or twice before he got used to the place. Not knowing what to say, he just stayed silent. Already having trouble talking to girls is bad enough, but this was a princess of an entire planet. Not just a country. What peeked Ranma's interests was when they came to an area that looked like a giant arena.  
  
"Um.Miss Ayeka? What is that room?"  
  
"Oh, that? That is where the palace guards go to train. I never stay in this area for long. It kind of bores me."  
  
"You don't like fighting?"  
  
"No. Not really."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Does this interest you, Ranma?"  
  
"Yes. I was hoping that if I had spare time I could train a little bit."  
  
"You don't look like the palace guards. They have a much bigger build than you. Are you really a fighter?"  
  
"Yes, but I kinda prefer the term, Martial artist. My dad took me from home for ten years just to travel and train in the martial arts."  
  
"You look strong. But not like a fighter."  
  
"I took out eleven slavers. That is if you count the guy whose arm I cut of, before I got captured I'll have you know!" Ranma noticed her face go pale after hearing this. "Sorry I don't think that was the right thing to say.um.Sorry." Ranma said before bowing.  
  
"That's okay. It.was just the thought of you chopping some ones arm off."  
  
"It was kind of by accident. I aimed my attack at one guy and went through him and hit the other guy."  
  
"I'm amazed that you could defeat eleven of the slavers."  
  
"Is that good?"  
  
"Yes. That's very good. Most of the Palace guards couldn't defeat that many. They might be able to defeat three at the most before being defeated them selves."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"And they have Juraian power at their disposal, though not as much as the royal family."  
  
"So your stronger than the palace guards? Cool!"  
  
"No. They are trained fighters. I haven't had the combat training they had."  
  
"Oh.I think I get it."  
  
"Shall we continue the tour?"  
  
"Okay Miss Ayeka!"  
  
"Ranma?"  
  
"Yes Miss Ayeka?"  
  
"Please just call me Ayeka. It seems foreign coming from you. I usually wouldn't mind though. I'm used to the name."  
  
"Okay! I guess I'm not good at being polite and stuff. I have traveled all of my life after all."  
  
"Where have you been to?"  
  
"Mostly places in Japan and China. Training grounds and stuff like that. My father was going to take me to a place called Jusenkyo right before the slavers came."  
  
"Those are places on earth?"  
  
"Yep!"  
  
"Do you miss earth?"  
  
"Not really, just my family. My dad mostly, I used to have no respect for him, but when the slavers came he shaped up into a halfway descent father, and I realized that he was all I have left."  
  
"What about your mother?"  
  
"My mother?" Ranma stopped to think for a bit. "I haven't seen her in ten years. I've forgotten what she was like. So I don't know that much about her."  
  
"I'm sorry." Ayeka said, feeling bad that she might have brought up something that shouldn't have been brought up.  
  
"Aw that's okay. I never really think all that much about it."  
  
"But still."  
  
"Your mother seems like a nice person." Ranma said, trying to take the conversation away from him.  
  
"She is.but she's a little too over protective. She likes cute things, so she wants Sasami and myself to act cute when we're around her. She gets angry if we don't."  
  
"Doesn't it get annoying some times?"  
  
"Of course it does. But it's even worse not too. If you ever make her mad say 'I'm very sorry pretty lady' and she'll start hugging you as if you were her own son."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Really."  
  
"Wow. I'll remember that." Ranma noticed that there was a picture of two people on the wall. They seemed to be in there forties and wore fancy fighting clothes, and were holding decretive staffs. "Who are they?" Ranma said, pointing to the picture.  
  
"Those are the legendary royal guardians, Hazaka and Kamedaki. They were said to be great warriors and were the strongest of all the royal guardians." Ayeka said in admiration.  
  
"Are royal guards and palace guards the same thing?"  
  
"No. Royal guards protect the Emperor directly. The palace guards protect everything else."  
  
"Okay. That makes sense."  
  
They continued the rest of the tour, occasionally stopping when Ranma had a question about a particular room or painting that he saw. Ranma couldn't believe that all of the great battles that Ayeka talked about that happened on Jurai were going on, but he had no idea about it. For the longest time he thought earth was the only planet that had life on it. This big change was really starting to amaze him. Especially when he met Hazaka and Kamedaki, Ayeka's guardians. (Not the same as in the picture.) They looked like big logs that could float. They also had big kanji written on them. One was red and the other blue. Ranma noticed that they corresponded with the Hazaka and Kamedaki in the picture he saw.  
  
After Ayeka was done with the tour she told Ranma that she didn't need him to do anything for her today, so she allowed him to just walk around and get used to the palace. Ranma asked him if he was allowed to use the arena for practice and she told him that he could. So naturally Ranma went strait to the arena not caring whether or not he knew the rest of the palace. He wanted a good fight, and that's what he was going to get.  
  
Ranma walked into the arena, not at all intimidated by the men already practicing there. He was checking out the place trying to find the strongest people and the best opponents. He noticed that most of their fighting styles revolved around the sword. Ranma noticed a mat in which two people were sparring with a line of people waiting their turn. Ranma smiled. This is what he was waiting for, ever since he saw this place. Ranma walked up to the mat and waited in line until it finally came to be his turn. Ranma walked onto the mat and waited for his opponent to acknowledge his presence. What Ranma saw wasn't what he expected. The man who was currently on the mat took one look at Ranma and laughed.  
  
"C'mon! There isn't anyone else to challenge me? You! Next in line! Come up here!"  
  
"Hey pale! I'm the one on the mat now! You're fighting me!" Ranma pointed at him self with his thumb for extra emphasis.  
  
"You're just a kid, kid. You won't stand a chance against a fighter like me!"  
  
"Well prove it then." Ranma said, getting into a fighting stance.  
  
"Okay, but I'm not going easy on you just 'cause you're a kid." The man said getting into a stance of his own. He then nodded and took the offensive.  
  
The man rushed Ranma, planning to take him out with a quick punch. Ranma just leaned to the right to dodge. The man then attacked with a roundhouse kick to side area and a ridge hand to the neck. Ranma blocked the kick and grabbed the ridge hand. Ranma then threw the man over his shoulder and waited for him to hit the mat.  
  
"Okay kid, your pretty good. But now its time to get serious!"  
  
He rushed up to Ranma and attempted two punches. Ranma dodged both then punched the man in the solar plexus knocking him out. Two guys ran into the mat to take him to the medical room of the palace. Ranma just dusted of his hands and gave a cocky grin to everyone in line.  
  
"Next." Ranma said, waiting for his next victim. I mean challenger.  
  
Azusa was walking down the halls with his two royal guards, Hayate and Ryushin, when he noticed cheering going on in the arena's direction. This didn't happen too often. Actually, the last time this happened was during the tournament being held fifty years ago. So naturally his curiosity got the better of him and he went to see what was going on. He didn't expect to see Ranma completely annihilating everyone that came to challenge him. There were even two or three challengers attacking him at a time. Sure, they would get a lucky hit in once in a while, but that was all.  
  
"Hayate." Azusa said. "Remember to remind me to up the palace guards training. This is pathetic."  
  
"Yes, your highness." Hayate said in return, equally shocked.  
  
"Um.your highness?"  
  
"Yes, Ryushin?"  
  
"May I.challenge him?"  
  
"Sure.knock yourself out."  
  
Ryushin waited for Ranma to beat all of his opponents then hopped onto the mat. He bowed then introduced himself.  
  
"I am Ryushin, of the Royal guard. I challenge you. Do you accept?" Ranma then bowed then introduced himself.  
  
"I am Ranma Saotome of the Saotome school of anything goes martial arts! I accept.your challenge." Ranma then got into a fighting stance.  
  
They both waited there summing each other up. Ranma could tell that this guy was good. His aura was very powerful. Ryushin did the same, knowing full well that Ranma wasn't to be taken lightly. Then they both attacked. Ryushin and Ranma attacked each other faster than most people could see. It happened so fast and looked so fluent to the point that it was like a dance.  
  
Azusa couldn't believe it. Ranma, a human, was fighting on par with the royal guard. Next to people born of royal blood, they were they had the strongest Juraian power, and were the most skilled warriors on Jurai. This wasn't supposed to happen. When Ranma told him he was a fighter. Ranma meant it.  
  
Ayeka went to check on Ranma. She didn't want him getting beat up the first day in the palace. She probably wouldn't do this for a regular servant, but Ranma was different. He wasn't like the other servants in the palace, and she could also hold a somewhat decent conversation with him. She, like Sasami, doesn't have too many friends in the palace. She decided to check the arena first knowing full well that if he wasn't there he would most likely be in the medical room tending to his wounds.  
  
When she got there, she didn't expect to see her father and Hayate staring at something with their mouths wide open. She never saw her father like that before. He's usually a serious man that rarely shows that much emotion at all. Especially shock. But when she looked to see what was going on her mouth hung open as well. She thought Ranma was just over exaggerating when he said he spent his whole life training and was the best he knew. No one except Her father and Yosho could stand up to the royal guards in combat. And here it is, a human doing just that.  
  
Ranma was starting to seriously respect this guy. Though he hasn't used special attacks yet. Ryushin is holding up quite well. Ranma decided to take the fight to the next level. He jumped back to break away from his opponent, then let loose one of his favorite attacks.  
  
"KATCHU TENSHIN AMAGURA KEN!" Ranma let loose a fury of punches that seemed to just blur. In all, he punched seven hundred and fifty seven times.  
  
Ryushin was only able to counter a few punches before being over powered and thrown to the ground. He then struggled to get up then took a new fighting stance.  
  
"That was good Ranma. Now it's my turn. DIVINE WAVE!" Ryushin let loose a chi blast that would kill most men, but he knew Ranma could take it.  
  
Ranma crossed his arms to cover his face and to block the blast. Ranma was pushed back three feet from the blast and smoke was coming from his arms.  
  
"This is Juraian power?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Yes, a form of it anyway. That is an attack of my making though."  
  
"Well, I must say. I'm impressed. My old man never knew anything like that.except for the forbidden techniques but those don't count. Those are really taxing on the body."  
  
"Shall we continue with the fight? Or have you had enough?"  
  
"Lets continue. This is fun."  
  
Ranma rushed Ryushin to put him on the defensive. He then let himself be put on the defensive purposely. Ranma wanted to try out an attack that he read in one of those scrolls in the abandoned village. Ranma started to lead Ryushin into a spiral while concentrating on the soul of ice technique. When the spiral was completed he delivered a final uppercut to Ryushin's chin and.  
  
"HIRRYU-SHAUTEN-HA!"  
  
The combined power of Ranma's cold chi and Ryushin's hot Juraian power created a giant Twister. Ranma was safe in the center, but Ryushin was sucked up into the thing. Ryushin tried raising his power to steady himself, but that just made the twister grow stronger. Finally Ryushin used up too much power and fell unconscious. The twister stopped and Ryushin fell to the mat. What was left of it anyway.Actually; there was now a new sunroof in the building.  
  
Ranma dropped his fist, which was still in the uppercut position and let out his breath. That was the first time he's used the 'dragon's heavenly ascension wave' and it was quite breath taking. The first one to speak was Azusa.  
  
"Ryushin is still alive.isn't he?" Azusa said with worry in his voice. Ryushin was one of his closest friends. Ranma looked down at Ryushin, then back at Azusa.  
  
"Yeah, he's okay! The hirryu-shauten-ha isn't really meant to kill. The only way it can kill ya is if you break your neck on the way down."  
  
"How did you do that technique? It was amazing!"  
  
"I concentrated my chi into cold chi instead of hot. When my cold chi after being chased into a spiral by Ryushin's hot Juraian power touched his, it created a tornado."  
  
"Who would think of that?"  
  
"I don't know. Me and my old man found a village full of martial arts techniques about a month before being taken by the slavers. It took forever to translate them from Chinese to Japanese though. I haven't learned all the techniques yet, but I memorized all of the scrolls so I can use them at any time. I used the Hirryu-shauten-ha for the first time today."  
  
"Can all humans do this?"  
  
"Yes.but not all know how. There are only a hand full of people in the world who actually train hard enough to use their chi."  
  
"Can Juraians use these techniques?"  
  
"Yeah. Just as long as they train enough."  
  
"Okay.I must go now. Hayate, take Ryushin to the medical room."  
  
"Yes your highness."  
  
They then watched the emperor walk out of the room as if he were in a hurry. He was then followed by Hayate who was now carrying Ryushin on his shoulder. Not having any more opponents to fight, Ranma was about to leave. He then noticed Ayeka. She was looking at him as if he grew a second head.  
  
"What? Do I got something on my face?"  
  
".No.I'm just waiting for everything I just witnessed to sink in."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"How many martial arts do you know, that are like that?"  
  
"Quite a few. You probably saw two of them depending on when you walked in on the fight. One is the chestnut fist and the other is the hirryu-shauten- ha. The chestnut fist technique allows me to punch really fast. It took me about a week to learn it."  
  
"Yes. I saw that technique. I'm surprised that you were able to beat Ryushin. He's one of the best warriors on Jurai."  
  
"Ranma Saotome never loses! Actually he was doing pretty good. I just had more tricks up my sleeve. That attack he used. 'Divine wave' I think he called it, was a pretty powerful attack. I might be able to duplicate it using chi."  
  
"Is it hard to duplicate attacks."  
  
"Yep. If you mess up you might end up hurting yourself. Or sometimes if you don't know the trick behind it, it could take months to figure out. I just have a lot of practice doing it that's all."  
  
"That is very interesting."  
  
"I thought you said fighting bores you."  
  
"It's kind of hard to get bored when you find out that you can create tornadoes and energy blasts using your own power. I just always thought that violence was just two people trying to beat each other to a bloody pulp."  
  
"Nope. There is a lot of strategy behind the martial arts. If you're a good one, that is."  
  
"I now realize that."  
  
"Um.Ayeka?"  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"When's dinner? I'm hungry." Ranma said rubbing his stomach.  
  
"It's in an hour. Will you be dining with us tonight?"  
  
"Um.Am I aloud? I mean.I am a slave ya know."  
  
"Yes, but I think my father likes you. I think its because your not all formal like the other servants. Or maybe it is because you don't seem intimidated by him."  
  
"Really? Well, I guess if I'm aloud I will." Ranma said scratching the back of his head.  
  
"Good! I'll go ask permission right away!" Ayeka rushed out of the room to ask her father if Ranma could eat with them. Little did Ranma know, is that he would be eating with them every night from now on. Everybody liked Ranma, he was just an easy person to talk to, and he answered questions truthfully. It was a nice change of pace for the palace, a nice change of pace for everybody.  
  
End chapter two. 


	4. A shopping we will go

Chapter 3  
Ranma awoke to sunshine beaming down on his face. It's been a few weeks since Ranma came to the palace. He learned that even though he was a slave, neither he, nor any of the other slaves in the palace were treated or considered slaves. Most Juraians are actually against slavery. They simply bought them and treated them like a butler or a maid, and gave them a place to stay and kept them well fed. Ranma liked the palace and he liked Ayeka. The only thing he didn't like is that, when she got mad she'd get all bossy and start giving out orders.  
  
Sasami would often come to play with Ranma due to the fact that it often got boring in the palace. Ranma remembered a time when she wanted him to get Ayeka's tiara when she was sleeping. He would never do that again. She had yelled at him for a week after that. Ranma could still feel the ringing in his ears.  
  
Then there were the royal guards Hayate and Ryushin. They turned out to be good friends. They often got him out of trouble when He did something stupid, and they were great sparing partners. Ranma remembered the look on Ryushin's face when he mimicked his divine wave with chi. Though it isn't as strong as Ryushin's it was a start.  
  
Then there was Emperor Azusa and his two wives. Ranma liked all of them. He liked Azusa due to the fact that he was like a second father to him in a way. He even got the royal guards to teach him Juraian swordsmanship. Ranma had to learn it to protect Ayeka affectively after all.  
  
Ranma liked Funaho due to the fact that she was from earth and could talk to him about it. She seemed to be a calm and collect person. She's the exact opposite of Masaki. Ranma thinks of her as the mother he never had. Ranma doesn't know whether or not his real mother is living or not, so Masaki is the closest thing he has. The only thing that bugs Ranma about her is that since she took a liking to him he now has to call her 'Auntie Masaki' and has to say it in a 'two-year old cutesy voice'. Ranma had learned all to well the power of the words 'I'm very sorry pretty lady'. They saved him from a world of hurt from his foot in mouth syndrome.  
  
All in all, Ranma liked the palace. The work really isn't all that hard, and when he's finished he can train or do what ever he wants. Right now though. He had to start his morning work out before Ayeka woke up. So Ranma went off to the arena to spar with Hayate and Ryushin for a while.  
  
Ranma walked into the arena where Hayate and Ryushin were waiting for him. They threw him a boken as he walked up to the mat. Ryushin walked off the mat leaving only Ranma and Hayate. They took a ready stance then charged each other. Hayate took a swing at Ranma's mid section, which Ranma just blocked. Ranma flipped over Hayate's head and tried a downward slash. Hayate just stood there and blocked it at the last second. Ranma started stabbing with the chestnut fist's speed. Hayate knowing that he wasn't fast enough to block all of it blocked the first few then jumped back, putting some space between them. They both got in another ready stance then charged again. This time they both slashed. Hayate's sword broke strait through Ranma's but he was fast enough to dodge the strike.  
  
Ranma threw away the useless handle then got into an unarmed fighting stance.  
  
"Come on Ranma. You can't beat me unarmed when I have a boken."  
  
"Heh, That's what you think! If you can't hit me you can't win!"  
  
"*Sigh* Lets get this over with."  
  
Hayate charged Ranma slashing towards the mid section once again. Ranma once again just dodged the attack. Hayate started some combos, which Ranma dodged also. The speed started to increase and Ranma was hard pressed. Hayate made a slash towards Ranma's legs but Ranma just jumped over Hayate kicking him in the back of the head on the way down. Hayate recovered from the kick and charged again. This process repeated until they were both pretty much too tired to keep it up.  
  
"You *pant * give up *pant * yet?" Hayate asked between breaths.  
  
"No way! *Pant * I'm just getting *pant * warmed up!"  
  
"Lets *pant * finish this!"  
  
"Right!"  
  
Just before they started charging Ryushin stopped them.  
  
"Wait a sec. Ranma, doesn't Ayeka wake up right about this time?"  
  
"Yeah.She does."  
  
"Here I'll flip a coin. Heads, Ranma wins. Tails Hayate wins." Ryushin said, while pulling a coin out of one of his pockets. He then flipped the coin and it landed on tails.  
  
"Ha! I win!" Hayate yelled in triumph.  
  
"That's just a coin! I would have beaten you hands down!"  
  
"The coin never lies Ranma."  
  
"Yeah, except when it's a two sided coin" Ranma said under his breath. "What was that Ranma?" Ryushin asked.  
  
"Nothin' I better take my shower and get dressed." Ranma headed back towards his room to get ready for the rest of the day. Ranma didn't know why he had to be ready right when Ayeka gets up. She never asks him to do anything around that time anyway.  
  
Ryushin and Hayate waited for Ranma to leave then faced each other. Ryushin flipped the coin and caught it then put it in his pocket.  
  
"I love these two sided coins!"  
  
"Yeah!"  
  
By the time Ranma was ready and actually got to Ayeka's room she was already half way out the door. She stopped when she noticed Ranma.  
  
"Oh. Are you ready to go Ranma?"  
  
"Go? Go where?"  
  
"Remember. Last night I told you that I wanted to go to town remember?"  
  
Last night at the dinner table.  
  
Ranma was chowing down on the food that was given to him stopping every few seconds to drink something.  
  
"Ranma I'm going to town tomorrow, is that okay with you?" Ayeka asked.  
  
Ranma not really noticing what she had just said and wanting to finish eating just lifted his head up to give his answer.  
  
"Huh? Oh yeah, sure, whatever." Ranma said as he started digging into his plate again.  
  
"Good!" Ayeka said clasping her hands together.  
  
"Oh yeah! You did want to go to town. What's that got to do with me?"  
  
"Simple. You are to be my body guard.and I need someone to carry the bags." She said as she walked past Ranma. Ranma just stood there for a few seconds letting everything sink in. All he could come up with was.  
  
"Huh?" He waited for a second.  
  
"Hey! Wait a second!" He yelled while trying to catch up.  
  
Where Genma was.  
  
Genma was now sitting in line to be bought.  
  
"Today is the day! I will be bought then rescue my son!"  
  
A k'tarl-k'tarl walked up to Genma and looked him up and down.  
  
"No.too fat." He then passed Genma up to check out the other slaves.  
  
Another k'tarl-k'tarl looked at Genma.  
  
"No.too stupid looking."  
  
Genma was starting to get annoyed at this point. Sure he wasn't the smartest person in the world, and he was a little overweight, but still. This was ridiculous.  
  
When the next person came to look at him Genma grabbed him by the shoulders and screamed as loud as he could.  
  
"BUY ME NOW!"  
  
This of course scared the poor guy and caused the slavers to get out the electric rods and start electrocuting Genma. He was then thrown back in the isolation cell, which he has been visiting a lot recently. Getting bought was a lot harder than Genma had originally thought.  
  
Back to where Ranma was.  
  
Ranma was now carrying three boxes and four bags. They had visited twenty stores and Ranma was now quite bored. How Ayeka was able to go to store to store and look at the exact same thing that was in the last ten stores and not get bored was beyond Ranma. All he could do is hope that this inhumane torture would stop.and soon.  
  
"Lets go to this shop now!" Ayeka said, practically running in.  
  
"Um, okay." Ranma slowly dragged behind.  
  
An hour later Ayeka was still holding up clothes for Ranma to give the okay on.  
  
"Which do you think looks better? The blue one or the red one?" She said, holding up to different colored types of clothing.  
  
"They both look the same." Ranma said, his eyes slightly drooping.  
  
"What do you mean, they both look the same? This one is blue and this one is red!"  
  
"Ummmm.and?"  
  
"They are completely different!"  
  
"How?"  
  
"They just are!"  
  
"Um.the blue one."  
  
"What! The blue one! The red one is much better!"  
  
"Okay the red one." Ranma said, scared that Ayeka was going to rip his head off or something.  
  
"But the red one doesn't go well with my hair color."  
  
"Um.so you're getting the blue one?"  
  
"No, of course not. I'm getting this nice purple one!"  
  
"Okay! Can we go home now?" Ranma asked, still confused why she even asked for his opinion when she ignored it anyway.  
  
"Come on. There are still a few shops we haven't been to yet." Ayeka replied, confused as to why he would want to stop having so much fun in the shops.  
  
"Okay.lets go." Ranma said stretching a little bit before Ayeka went to the cash register.  
  
Again this went on until they came to the last shop.  
  
"Which one Ranma? The pink one or the green one?"  
  
"They would both look good on you I'm sure." Ranma said, knowing full well that he was taking the safest route. Ayeka blushed a little bit at hearing this then turned back to the clothes.  
  
"Thank you Ranma.but I'll go with the green one." She said, putting the pink one back where she had found it.  
  
They were just about to go to the cash register when they heard a few screams. When they got there, there were surprised to see three armed men robbing the store. Ayeka a bit shaken due to the fact that she had never witnessed anything like this before. Ranma on the other hand was getting excited.  
  
"All right! It's about time something exciting happens!" He practically yelled as he made his way to the robbers.  
  
"Ranma! What are you doing?" Ayeka screamed not wanting him to get hurt.  
  
"I'm just taking care of the guys robbing the store. I'll be right back."  
  
Ranma then jumped behind the four men and tapped one of them on the shoulder. The guy turned around to see a fist coming strait towards his face. He was then knocked out and didn't know exactly what hit him. The three other men turned around to see what had happened. When they saw that their buddy was knocked out, they all pointed their guns at the one who did it. Ranma just smiled. They open fired on him knowing full well that no one could dodge bullets. they were wrong. Ranma weaved in and out dodging every single one.  
  
Ayeka couldn't believe it. Ranma was dodging bullets. She then covered her eyes when she saw Ranma punch one of the guys and blood fly everywhere. She could then here the two other people getting beat on as they screamed.  
  
"Help!"  
  
"He's a monster, get him off of us!"  
  
"Ouch! That hurt!"  
  
*Snap *  
  
*Pop *  
  
*Splat *  
  
Then the fighting stopped and Ayeka opened her eyes. She cringed as she saw the four men lying on the ground bloody and bruised and some of their close torn.  
  
"That had to hurt." She said to her self. Ranma then walk backed to her after being thanked by the owner of the store.  
  
"Well. Lets go!" Ranma said with a smile on his face.  
  
"Right. Let me just buy this real quick." She then ran up to the counter and bought the clothes. Then she ran up and handed the bag to Ranma.  
  
"Lets go home." Ayeka said still a little shaken. "Okay!" They than began the walk home.  
  
To where genma was.  
  
Genma was still in the isolation cell, but he is now awake. Genma is scheming on how he was going to get Ranma back.  
  
"Okay. Maybe that was a bit stupid. No more forcing people to buy me." Genma rubbed his chin a little as if her were in deep thought.  
  
"I know! Who says I have to be bought. I'll just run next time! I took out three of the slavers before! I should be able to take out another three then run! Then I can go find Ranma and we can free the tendos!" Genma started laughing a little bit. Then he started going hysterical. Then he stopped abruptly as if something just dawned on him.  
  
"But when are they going to let me out of here? This place is driving me insane!"  
  
Genma waited a little bit longer than sad down in a corner.  
  
"It should be any minute now.hmmmmmmm..I should really stop talking to my self out loud."  
  
In the regular cell where they kept the well behaved slaves, Kasumi was cleaning up, Akane was exercising, Nabiki was trying to figure out a good way to escape, and Soun Tendo was crying his eyes out because his best friend was electrocuted then brought to the isolation cell.  
  
"My best friend is going to go crazy because he's alone, then we he will never get Ranma, and the schools will never be joined!" Soun Tendo the fearless patriarch the Tendo family cried.  
  
"Come on daddy! I can find a way to get out of here. It's just going to take a while that's all." Nabiki said trying to calm her father down.  
  
" *Sniff * Really?"  
  
"Sure. Then we can get Ranma and join the schools!"  
  
Soun sniffed a few times then dried his tears. He then hugged Nabiki as hard as he could screaming.  
  
"My daughter is so great! She wants to uphold family honor and join the two schools! I'm so proud!"  
  
"Right." Nabiki cringed inwardly. Sure she thought Ranma was good looking and everything, but she still didn't know the guy. She just didn't want to be a slave.  
  
"Ranma this.Ranma that! I hate Ranma! When we meet Ranma I'm going to beat him in front of every one and show them who the best martial artist really is! Ha! That's what I'll do!" Akane thought to her self as she continued to exercise.  
  
"Oh my.Father could you stand up for a minute? I need to sweep here now." Kasumi asked with her usual happy expression.  
  
"Huh.Sure." No one can say no to Kasumi. Not even the slavers could say no to Kasumi. She could probably ask to be freed and they'd let her just walk away.  
  
"Thank you" Kasumi said, as she began to sweep where her father had been sitting.  
  
"Your welcome."  
  
To where Ranma is  
  
Ranma and Ayeka had just arrived home and were going to their respected rooms. Ayeka was stopped by Azusa because he wanted to talk to her about something so Ranma went on ahead to get dressed into is training clothes.  
  
"Ayeka. On the news it said that one of the stores in tow was almost robbed today. Were you at that store?" Azusa asked in a worried tone.  
  
Ayeka shuffled her feat a little bit. She didn't want to worry her father but she didn't want to lie to him either. So she just told the truth and hoped for the best.  
  
"Yes. I was at the shop. But Ranma took care of the people robbing it! He knocked all four of them out!"  
  
"Yes. I had heard that someone had fought all four of them single handedly but I still want you to be more careful. Maybe from now on I should have you bring two guards along instead of just Ranma."  
  
"But father! I don't like being around the palace guards a single bit. Ranma is much better to be around and he took care of them this time, I'm sure he could do it again!"  
  
"Yes. Ranma is a skilled fighter, and he has been training with Hayate and Ryushin. I guess it's okay, but from now on I don't want you to go without Ranma, or at least two guards."  
  
"Okay!" She said, before heading back to her room. Azusa started to speak after she was in hearing range.  
  
"Maybe I shouldn't tell her about Yosho yet. He should have been back by now. I'll send a search party out for him and if he isn't found, I'll tell her then." He then walked away to finish his emperor duties for the day.  
  
Hayate and Ryushin were also in a debate whether or not to tell 'Ranma' about Yosho. Though it was none of his business, they felt that he should no for some reason. They didn't know why. Maybe if he knew ahead of time, he could find a way to help Ayeka out when she heard the news.  
  
In the end they ruled that out. Knowing Ranma, he'd probably tell Ayeka ahead of time with out even meaning to. They all knew that Ranma suffered from foot in mouth syndrome and this is something that would most likely crush Ayeka. He would just have to find out at the same time as Ayeka. Besides, Ranma never knew Yosho, so he probably wouldn't be able to do anything about it. It would just have to wait.  
  
What concerned them other than Yosho's disappearance, is what ever happened to Ryoko? If she did manage to kill Yosho, where is she now, and where will she hit next?  
  
End of chapter 3  
*I just want to think my pre-readers, and every one who has read the fic. I just put it up three days ago and it seems like it is doing well.  
  
For those of you who have been wondering, Ryoga, Natsumi, and Yuri will show up later on in the fic, just not now.  
  
And I want to take a vote. Should Lum show up in this fic or not. I am trying to put a few other alien types in here to make it interesting, but Lum really isn't needed. So when you make a review put in whether or not Lum should be in here. You can only vote once. Ja ne, for now! 


	5. Yosho is missing and Ryoga is back!

Chapter 4  
Ranma was currently walking down the street in the town he and Ayeka visited a three weeks ago. The slavers had come to this town selling some of the slaves that remained from previous sails. He was sent to get three servants for the palace by Azusa, because three servants were caught stealing, so naturally they needed to be replaced. The only thing Ranma didn't get is why Azusa picked 'him' of all people.  
  
Ranma was told to find three people. Azusa wanted one strong one so that he could put him to some hard work, maybe to help move heavy objects in the palace or something, Ranma really didn't care. Azusa didn't care about the other two. He said that just as long as they could clean or something. Maybe be taught how to cook or for work in the palace garden. Ranma didn't know why he didn't send Hayate or Ryushin but he might as well enjoy the peace and quiet. At least he wasn't shopping for clothes again.  
  
"A strong one huh? *Sigh* Last I checked everyone was practically starved. So I guess it should be someone who has the potential to be strong."  
  
Ranma walked a little more and stopped when he saw the stand where the slaves were sold. The thing that annoyed him most is that Azusa had made him wear clothes almost as fancy as the nobles wore. He wanted to get it over with so he could get out of them as soon as possible. They were really beginning to itch.  
  
Ranma walked onto the stand starting with the beginning of the line. He made his way to the middle when he saw Ryoga. Ranma smirked to himself. He had found his strong worker, and he could get Natsumi and Yuri also if they hadn't been bought yet. Ranma hoped with all his heart that they hadn't. Ranma walked in front of Ryoga with his back facing him. He was just about to flag over a slaver when he received a nasty head butt in the back of the head.  
  
"Ouch! Hey, why did you do that for ya jerk?" Ranma yelled while rubbing his head.  
  
"Ranma? I thought you wore a ponytail, not a braided pigtail!" Then he smirked. "If I knew it was you I would have hit you harder."  
  
"Ha, ha. Very funny." Ranma said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Is Natsumi and Yuri here? I want to buy you three for Emperor Azusa."  
  
"What! You want to buy us so that we get worked to death then thrown away like trash?" Ryoga practically, clenching his fists.  
  
"No man. Azusa isn't like that. He treats slaves more like butlers and maids and stuff, and the foods great. Maybe, if you show that you're a good fighter you can get moved up to palace guard or something. Natsumi and Yuri will have a better life at the palace. Sure they'd have to work, but it wouldn't be hard. Especially if you've been teaching them martial arts!"  
  
"Of course I have, but still!"  
  
"C'mon, How about it? Can't ya give it just one chance?" This made Ryoga think.  
  
"Fine, but if I don't like it I'll kill you my self."  
  
"Great! Now, where are Natsumi and Yuri?"  
  
"Follow me." Ryoga started walking off when Ranma grabbed his shoulder then went off in the opposite direction.  
  
"Ranma niichan!" Both girls screamed at once, as they clamped onto Ranma.  
  
"I'm going to buy you two so that we can all live in the palace. You will have to work, but think of it as training."  
  
"We'll get to see each other every day again?" Yuri asked.  
  
"Yep!" Ranma said, nodding his head.  
  
"Yay!" They both yelled in unison.  
  
Ranma was now walking back to the palace with Natsumi and Yuri holding onto his hands practically skipping as they walked, and Ryoga was walking next to them. Ranma was glad they were cheap. It turns out they were giving a discount on the girls and Ryoga due to the fact that Ryoga knocks everyone who tries to buy them unconscious.  
  
"So what's with the fancy getup Ranma? I hope they don't make me dress like that."  
  
"Nope. Since I'm going into town without Ayeka, I have to wear this since I'm representing the house of Jurai or something like that. That's why I'm wearing this outfit." Ranma said, lifting up his arms for emphasis.  
  
"I'll stick to my regular clothes and bandanna any day."  
  
"Well. the first day I got to the palace, they cleaned me up and put me in different clothes and braided my hair into a pigtail. They might take away your bandanna."  
  
"What? No way!" Ryoga yelled. He loved his bandanna.  
  
"They won't take it away, but you will have a uniform code while your working in the palace. You can dress anyway you want to when your on your days off."  
  
"We get breaks?" Ryoga asked, still not believing that he wasn't going to be a slave.  
  
"Of course! You even get paid a little bit too. That way you can eventually get on your own feet and start your own life."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah. Although the money they used to buy you with out of your next few paychecks, but they only take a part of it so that you have your own spending money."  
  
"What are you going to do when you get enough to leave, Ranma niichan?" Natsumi asked.  
  
"Me? I haven't thought that far ahead. I guess find my old man then free him or something. I really don't mind living in my palace. My job is kind of full time though."  
  
"So you don't get days off, Ranma niichan?" Yuri asked, since she has been silent up until now.  
  
"I do, but I usually ignore them. You see I'm a mix between a butler and a body guard for Ayeka."  
  
"Who is this Ayeka you keep mentioning?" Ryoga asked, not knowing whom Ranma was talking about.  
  
"She's the first crowned princess of the planet you are currently standing on."  
  
"Really? Does she boss you around a lot? In the movies back on earth that's how the princesses always acted."  
  
"Not really. Only when she's in a really bad mood, other than that she's kind of a nice person to be with, and she has a little sister about Natsumi and Yuri's age. Maybe a year older."  
  
"Really? What's her name?" Natsumi asked.  
  
"It's Sasami. I'm sure she'll be glad that there are two girls around her age in the palace. Now she'll have two new friends."  
  
"Yeah!" The two children cheered. They were going to make a new friend!  
  
"There's just one thing I don't get." Ryoga still didn't get why Ranma was happy to be a servant.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"You seem a little 'too' happy about this whole 'servant' thing. Why is that?"  
  
"Well. My old man always said that a martial artists duty is to protect those who can't protect them selves."  
  
"Yeah, I know, but that still doesn't explain anything."  
  
"When I was still on earth with pops, and the slavers came. I couldn't protect anyone, not one single person! Heck, I couldn't even protect my self in the end." Ranma put his hands behind his head as he walked, and stared off for a few seconds in thought.  
  
"I. hated the slavers for what they did. I hated my own weakness. My old man sacrificed himself so that I could escape, and I was still captured." Ranma took a long breath.  
  
"Listen Ryoga. You aren't a true martial artist until you've found someone to protect. That one person that no matter what happens, you will always keep that person protected. That is when a martial artist is at their full potential. I have to admit, that at first when I was taken to the palace I was thinking about escaping then freeing you three and finding my old man, but instead I found some one to protect."  
  
"And who would that be?" Ryoga asked.  
  
"That would be Ayeka. I promised my self that I would protect her no matter what happens. I am her guardian after all," Ranma said, smirking to him self after the last statement.  
  
"You know what? That's a little too deep for you Ranma. Who did you copy that from?"  
  
"What! I made that up!" Ranma said, hitting Ryoga in the back of the head.  
  
"Why did you do that for? Jerk!" Ryoga yelled, hitting Ranma in the back of the head.  
  
At the palace  
  
At the palace, Azusa was sitting on his throne, bored as he could be. Masaki and Funaho were off doing some shopping or something. Azusa wasn't paying attention when they were talking. He was a little preoccupied. He just signed the document making earth a protected planet. He was still thinking about what he had heard from the search party.  
  
"Your highness." The head of the scout said as he got on one knee and bowed his head.  
  
"No need to kneel right now. What are your results?" Azusa asked, hoping his son was all right.  
  
"I really don't know what to say, so I'll just start from what I know."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"We found him on the planet earth."  
  
"Really? That's great! When can I expect his return?" Azusa said, perking up a little.  
  
"Never sir." The scout said bowing his head a little.  
  
"What! Why not?"  
  
"He wishes to stay on earth. He does not wish to return to Jurai and take on the throne." Azusa began to think for a few seconds.  
  
"That will be all. You may leave now."  
  
"Yes, your highness." The scout bowed then left the room.  
  
"Why?" Azusa thought. " I can't let Ayeka know that he does not wish to return and marry her. I will just say that he is assumed dead. That way she can get over him and I can start searching for a new heir."  
  
Azusa started to call a short meeting. He may not approve of his sons actions, but he can still keep the planet he lives on protected.  
Ayeka then walked into the room where her father was currently in.  
  
"You called for me father?"  
  
"Yes. I did."  
  
"What is it? You look worried."  
  
"It's about Yosho." This caused Ayeka's face to go white.  
Ranma and the others had finally reached the palace gates. Now all Ranma had to do is present Ryoga, Natsumi, and Yuri and his job was finished for the day. They walked down the long corridors that lead to the throne room. Things were going easy. Ranma still couldn't help that something was going to go wrong though. Things always go wrong when he has an easy time with things.  
  
Then out of nowhere, Ayeka came running down the corridor, obviously with tears in her eyes. Ranma tried to get her attention but she didn't see him and kept going.  
  
"Who was that?" Ryoga asked.  
  
"That was Ayeka. She came from the throne room, maybe we can figure out what happened there." Ranma had a feeling that he wasn't going to like it.  
  
Ranma and the others walked in to the throne room. Ranma bowed to Azusa and Ryoga followed suit. Natsumi and Yuri didn't bow but Azusa didn't care since they were only children.  
  
"Your highness, I present Ryoga Hibiki, Natsumi, and Yuri.I don't know their last names."  
  
"Isn't that the one that was head butting everyone when I bought you?"  
  
"Um.Yes."  
  
"Oh well. They will do, and I'm sure Sasami will enjoy having Natsumi and Yuri with her to play with."  
  
Azusa clapped his hands and Ryoga, Natsumi, and Yuri were taken out of the room to get cleaned up and put in to better clothing. Ranma decided that now was as good of a time as any to ask Azusa what was wrong with Ayeka.  
  
"Um."  
  
"Yes? What is it Ranma?"  
  
"I saw Ayeka on the way here. and I wanted to know what was wrong."  
  
"That does not concern you Ranma."  
  
"Yes, I know that, but."  
  
"That does not concern you. I don't want to hear any more of this. If you wish to know what is wrong, ask Ayeka!" Azusa said, raising his voice higher than usual.  
  
"Yes your highness." Ranma bowed then left the room. He wasn't usually that formal around Azusa, but he had a feeling that something was up, and that being formal would be the safest thing to do. So he then made his way to Ayeka's room.  
  
When he got to Ayeka's room he could here her sobbing through the door. Ranma has never seen Ayeka cry before and he hoped that he would never be in this situation. So Ranma just took a deep breath then knocked on the door.  
  
"GO AWAY!" He heard Ayeka scream through the door.  
  
"Um.it's me Ayeka. Is there something wrong?" Ranma said.  
  
"Idiot! Of course there's something wrong!" He thought to him self.  
  
"I WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE!" He heard her yell.  
  
"Um. Okay. Call me if you need anything." Ranma wanted to figure out what was going on, but he had the feeling that he'd only make it worse.  
  
Ryushin saw Ranma walking to his room with a serious expression on his face and decided to find out what it was about.  
  
"What's wrong Ranma, you don't look like your usual cocky self."  
  
"Do you know what's going on with Ayeka and Azusa? They seem a little off today."  
  
"That, huh? It has been officially declared that Yosho is assumed dead. Killed by the hands of Ryoko."  
  
"So, that's what happened. Now I know why Ayeka's upset. I guess if I had a brother and found out that he was killed, I would be upset too."  
  
"You do know that after he got back, him and Ayeka were supposed to get married right?"  
  
"Huh? But their brother and sister!"  
  
"Is that bad?" Ryushin asked, obviously not seeing the problem with the situation.  
  
"Of course it is! Siblings aren't supposed to get married!" Ranma said, completely confused on what was going on.  
  
"Oh, I see, on earth that is looked down upon. On Jurai it's not all that uncommon."  
  
"Wow. That's weird.Uh, no offense."  
  
"None taken.and when did you learn the word 'Sibling'?"  
  
"Two days ago. One of the servants asked if I had any siblings, and I didn't know what the heck they were talking about. So, I just asked them." Ranma said with a half smirk on his face.  
  
"Well, I'm going to get out of these clothes. I can't think in them. I'll take good old commoner clothes over these fancy 'garments' any day." Ranma said, walking into his room. Ryushin just walked off in a random direction not caring where he ended up.  
  
Ranma walked out of the room in the regular clothes that were given to him by Azusa. He wanted to find Ryoga and make sure that he didn't get lost or something. What he saw amazed him. Ryoga was wearing the servant clothing and seemed to be smiling. That was odd.  
  
Ryoga was wearing Juraian style clothing with wooden bracers not unlike the Juraian royal keys. He was wearing a black band around his head that replaced his headband, and combat boots replaced his shoes.  
  
"What are you so happy about? Last I checked you didn't want to wear the fancy clothing." Ranma said, cocking his head to one side.  
  
"I'm a body guard." Ryoga said smiling.  
  
"Yeah. I could tell by the getup, but the clothes are fancy none the less."  
  
"I think their kind of cool, not like the stuff you were in earlier today."  
  
"Your right about that. Those clothes itched way too much.wait a sec. What about your sense of direction?"  
  
"Temporary fix." Ryoga said lifting his left arm to reveal one of his bracers. "This is kind of like a map of the palace that tells me exactly where everything is. That's how I found my self to your room so quickly!" Ryoga said with a proud smile on his face.  
  
"What are you so proud about? Unlike you, it's normal to be able to get to where you want to go, without getting lost and ending up in the completely opposite direction."  
  
"You Jerk!" Ryoga yelled, throwing a quick punch at Ranma. Ranma caught it then smiled.  
  
"How about a quick sparring match in the arena. I got something bugging me and I need some time to think."  
  
"Yeah, sounds good to me. Oh, wait! Where are Natsumi and Yuri?"  
  
At that moment Natsumi and Yuri ran down the corridor laughing and playing with Sasami. Yuri tripped over her, own two feet and fell down. She got right up and continued to run after Natsumi and Sasami.  
  
"Well, there's your answer, now lets go." Ranma said, leading the way to the arena.  
  
Ryoga's mouth was hanging open as he walked into the arena. He had never seen an arena this big before. Sure it had to be big, due to all the people that were in it, but he still hadn't seen anything like it. Ranma wasn't kidding when he said arena. This place was huge.  
  
Ranma lead Ryoga onto an empty mat. He had used that mat a lot since he had first came to the palace. That had been his usual sparring place with Hayate and Ryushin. They both stepped to opposite sides of the mat and got into their fighting positions.  
  
"Ready, Ryoga?"  
  
"Yep!"  
  
Then they both charged. Ranma flipped right over Ryoga's head right off then elbowed him in the back. That had sent him flying a foot or two. Ryoga got up pretty quick though.  
  
"That was cheap Ranma."  
  
"C'mon! Ya should have blocked it! I thought you would have gotten better since our last fight."  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
Ryoga charged Ranma once again, and once again Ranma flipped over Ryoga's head, but this time Ryoga blocked the elbow and sent a punch towards Ranma's head, which he blocked. Ryoga started a fury of punches and kicks that Ranma either blocked or dodged.  
  
Ranma frowned a little bit. He could tell that Ayeka was most likely going to be in a stump for a while, *block* *dodge* but he still wanted to help in some way. *Dodge* *dodge* *block* Then it hit him. Yosho was only assumed dead. That way, there's still a chance that he is still alive.  
  
"I KNOW!" Ranma yelled in the middle of the fight.  
  
Ranma then kicked Ryoga strait up in the air then jumped to meet him before he started to fall. He then used the chestnut fist technique to beat him up a little then let him drop. Ranma then started to run out of the room.  
  
"Wait a sec! This isn't over with!" a very bruised Ryoga yelled as he started to stand.  
  
"Wow. He has gotten a bit stronger. I can't wait to fight him for real now." Ranma thought to him self.  
  
"Not now Ryoga! I just thought of something that's more important right now. I'll fight ya later." Ranma then left the arena.  
  
"Sure.any time." Ryoga then hit the mat hard. He wasn't unconscious, but was still in a bit of pain. "Ouch."  
  
Ranma once again found himself in front of Ayeka's door. Ranma also found himself knocking on Ayeka's door. And he once again got the same reply.  
  
"GO AWAY!"  
  
"Hey Ayeka! Let me in!"  
  
"GO AWAY!"  
  
" *Sigh* Listen to me okay! I heard about what happened!"  
  
"THEN WHY AREN'T YOU LEAVING ME ALONE?"  
  
"Why don't you look for Yosho?"  
  
"BECAUSE HE'S DEAD"  
  
"He's only assumed dead. Meaning that he could still be alive. Lets look for him. We might still be able to find him!"  
  
"But."  
  
"C'mon, Ayeka!" Ranma said, getting very annoyed that he had to talk through the door.  
  
Ayeka finally opened the door to Ranma. Ranma stepped back for a second. He had never seen her in this condition before. Her hair was messed up and her clothes were all wrinkled. He could tell by just looking at her that she had been crying more than he thought was physically possible.  
  
"What if we go searching and he's dead?"  
  
"Then there isn't anything we can do about it, but if he's alive and we don't go looking for him."  
  
"I know. Ranma secure my ship. We will leave as soon as possible." Ayeka said, straitening up a little bit.  
  
"Right!" Ranma said, running off. He soon ran right back.  
  
"Um.how do I secure your ship?" Ranma said, scratching the back of his head.  
  
"RANMA!" Ayeka yelled, clenching her fists.  
  
"Eep! Never mind! I'll figure it out!" Ranma said, running off once more.  
  
Back where Genma is  
  
"I'll buy 'him'." A pink haired man said, while pointing strait towards Genma.  
  
"Sir.may I make a suggestion?" Genma asked. Maybe if he played his cards right he could get this pink haired weirdo to buy Soun and his girls as well.  
  
"What is it you simpleton!" The Juraian noble said.  
  
"Well.you see sir. That man over their and his three daughters, are all hard workers. You could use that man and I as body guards or just for heavy labor, and that one over there for house work." He said, pointing towards Kasumi.  
  
"That one is quick with numbers." He said, pointing towards Nabiki.  
  
"And that one has a stunning personality" He said, pointing towards Akane.  
  
"But I only need one servant."  
  
"Ah. but the more servants you have. Just shows off how great you truly are!"  
  
"Really? Of course, it must be true. Very well then! I will buy all of you!" The pink haired noble said, flagging down the slaver.  
  
"What an idiot!" Genma thought to him self. "This is in the bag. Then I can escape and find Ranma."  
  
Back to Ranma  
  
"Finally. We will be able to leave in one week!" Ranma said in triumph.  
  
"She could have just told me to ask Azusa though" he thought to him self.  
  
"That will be all Ranma. You may leave."  
  
"Huh? Are you sure? I could hang around a little longer."  
  
"I said, that will be all!" Ayeka said, just bellow yelling point.  
  
"Um, sure. See ya around.miss Ayeka." Again, Ranma was startled by the change in attitude, and like Azusa, he felt that he should be formal.  
  
"Ranma."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Correct your pronunciation of the word you."  
  
"Uh.yes.ma'am." Ranma walked towards his room with his head hung a little lower than usual. Ranma hopes that she gets over Yosho soon, or at least he hopes that they find him. Ayeka is becoming a snob before his eyes. And Azusa isn't any better.  
  
"Oh well. We leave in one week. If he's still alive.I'll find him." Ranma thought to himself before opening the door to his room and plopping down on his bead.  
  
"If Ayeka doesn't snap out of this soon. I'll find away to bring him back to life if I have to."  
  
End chapter 4  
*Okay, a lot of people were telling me that Ayeka was out of character. The reason she treats people lesser than her like the way she does is because of the disappearance of Yosho. At least, that's how it is in this fic.  
  
*And so far Lum has the most votes. But I'm not going to put her in for a while, so keep voting. She's not really needed in the fic. I'm just going to put her in for fun. 


	6. No need for Tenchi!

Chapter 5

Seven hundred years after Ayeka left Jurai, she continued her pursuit for her brother. Unfortunately, it was a long trip, and she spent most of the duration of the trip in frozen sleep. However, Ayeka's slumber finally ended as she and her ship approached a distant planet. The chamber she slept in opened, and white mist flowed out from the chamber doors. Her eyes remained closed and she stood in an upright position. She wore an ornamental Juraian outfit with something of a hood to cover the top of her head. However, said hood did not rest on top of her head at all, and was raised by the actually outfit itself.

"All systems activated. Unlock the time freeze now," Azaka said. Azaka was one of Ayeka's robotic servants. It had a somewhat robotic voice, and its form resembled that of a giant log. It had a glass like orb that resembled an eye at the top portion of its body, and it had blue writing located at the center of its body. "All systems synchronized to bridge standard time."

"What planet is this?" Ayeka asked after she opened her eyes and took a good look at the planet that displayed on her ships monitors.

"Colonized planet #0135," Kamidake answered. Kamidake, Like Azaka, was one of Ayeka's robotic servants. It looked identical to Azaka except for the red writing located at the center of its body. "Earth."

"Then this is where my brother Yosho is!" Ayeka said excitedly. She had dreamed of the day Yosho would return to her. The thought that she might never see him again frightened her immensely.

"No," Azaka interjected, seemingly to kill Ayeka's good mood. "What we detected from this planet is Ryoko."

"Huh?" Ayeka asked. Just the mention of the space pirate's name was enough to put the Juraian princess in a foul mood. "Not that woman! What does this mean?"

"We have yet to detect Yosho's ship. But he was in pursuit of Ryoko," Kamidake answered. "Logically, he would follow then, that –. "

"I see," Ayeka said as she cut off Kamidake. "That woman and Ryo-ohki should be caught and tried formally by our planet Jurai, as soon as possible."

"Princess Ayeka," Azaka said. "Unfortunately, all of Ryoko's crimes will be cancelled by statute of limitations in galaxy standard time 00432, or in 5 seconds."

"What?" Ayeka asked, dumbfounded.

As Azaka explained the situation to Ayeka, a holographic monitor appeared in front of Ayeka with the countdown to Ryoko's statute of limitations. Ayeka watched in horror as the countdown started at five and worked its way down to one. Her eyes twitched in rage and disbelief that the most evil space pirate in the galaxy got off scot free due to an annoying law set up by the Juraian high council. The reason the statute of limitations applied to someone as evil as Ryoko was far beyond her understanding.

"As of this moment, the statute of limitations has taken effect and Ryoko's galaxy wanted file has been destroyed," Kamidake explained. It would be a problem if Ayeka still chased after Ryoko now that the statute of limitations was up.

"Destroyed?" Ayeka yelled in disbelief. "Answer me! Why is it?"

"The statute of limitations is based on decisions made by the holy council of planet Jurai, and-," Kamidake tried to explain, however Ayeka cut him off before he could finish.

"That is not what I have asked!" Ayeka hissed. "I want to know why that woman is not sought for all eternity!"

"That statute of limitations is based on decisions made by the holy council of the planet Jurai." Kamidake explained. Once again, he tried to finish his explanation, but Ayeka cut him off just as she had the last time.

"Never mind," Ayeka said in an exasperated tone. "The only clue left to us is that woman. We must capture her at any cost!"

"But the statute of limitations-," Kamidake tried.

"This is an order!" Ayeka commanded. "We will think of a reason."

"Yes ma'am!" Azaka said, obediently.

"Good! Now prepare for descent," Ayeka ordered. She was so close she could feel it. Yosho just had to be on planet earth. She knew that her brother would never fall to Ryoko; he was far too strong to lose to the harlot.

"Anti-air guard, storming level 4," Kamidake stated as he reported the ships status to Ayeka. In truth, Ayeka did not care about such details, but Kamidake was a robot, and it was his duty to keep his master informed.

"Please be well," Ayeka thought to herself, her mind filled with thoughts of her brother.

"Princess Ayeka," Azaka started. "About Ranma…"

"Oh, I almost forgot." Ayeka said as she brought her hand to her lips in sudden realization. "We should probably wake him up from his frozen sleep. I am sure that he will be needed soon."

"About that your highness," Azaka said with a bit of hesitation. "He woke up before you, and he has been active for quite some time."

"Wh-what?" Ayeka asked in disbelief. She should have been the first person on the ship to awaken from frozen sleep. Was there a programming malfunction? Was her ship playing a prank on her? "A-any way, call him to the bridge. I do not want that…that… ruffian running around my ship unsupervised!"

"Yes, your highness." Azaka said. He immediately took off to find Ayeka's human servant. Even though Azaka was a robot, he did have a programmed personality. He felt bad for Ranma, and he knew well that the poor boy was about to get an ear full when he came face to face with Ayeka.

Ranma had actually been awake for quite some time. Sasami stowed away on Ayeka's ship, and she brought Natsumi and Yuri with her. To make matters worse, they did not go into frozen sleep. They knew that Ayeka would be furious if she found out that they had snuck on board, so they remained hidden the entire time. That is, until they were bored and decided to wake Ranma up. In truth, it was Sasami, and not a programming error, that woke Ranma from his frozen sleep.

Ranma did not mind the early wake up call. In fact, he was grateful to the children that woke him up early. This way he could train a bit and keep his skills from becoming rusty. Sasami, Natsumi, and Yuri sat on his back as he performed his pushups. His muscles contracted and expanded as his body performed the act that had become part of his usual workout routine. The girls had a blast as they sat on Ranma's back. It was like going to the park and playing on some of the rides.

"Hey, Ranma, what do you think Ayeka will do when she finds out we snuck on board?" Sasami asked. She knew the answer, but it was a good conversation starter.

"I'm sure she will, Sasami," Ranma said with a bit of strain in his voice. "You two are family, I'm sure she'll forgive you eventually. But that doesn't mean that she won't get angry. She's going to be pissed."

"I'm sure she will be," Sasami laughed. "But you'll protect me, right Ranma?"

"I'll do my best, but when your sister's involved my hands are tied," Ranma sighed. "I wouldn't worry though. She may have changed a bit because of Yosho's disappearance, but she's still family. It's not like she'd do anything to hurt you."

"Yeah, I know, but it's fun to see your reactions to the questions I ask," Sasami said.

"Oh? What do you mean?" Ranma asked. Though the girls could not see his face, it twisted into a confused expression. What was so interesting about his reactions?

"Oh! I have a question!" Natsumi said as she raised her hand as if she were in school. "Do you love princess Ayeka, Ranma?"

"Wh-what?" Ranma practically yelled as he suddenly sped up his pushup routine. He did three pushups in the time that it usually took him to do one. Though the girls could not see it, his face had become as red as a tomato. "O-of course not! I mean, who would love someone as stuck up as her! A-and, it's not like a guy like me could…could…ya know what I'm sayin'?"

"That's what I'm talking about," Sasami giggled as she hugged Ranma's neck. "Your reactions are hilarious!"

"Sh-shutup!" Ranma stammered. "I'll tell Ayeka that you snuck onto the ship!"

"Hey, that's not fair!" Yuri said. "If you do that we'll all get in trouble!"

What Yuri failed to understand was that they were all in trouble anyway. Azaka chose that time to enter the room where Ranma and the girls were playing. The girls got off Ranma's back and the young martial artist rose to his feet. Azaka stopped in front of the group and waited a bit before giving off what seemed to be a robotic sigh. The group sighed in unison when they realized what Azaka's arrival meant.

"Time to get back to work," Ranma said. "Where are we anyway?"

"I believe that you call it earth." Azaka said to answer Ranma.

"Earth!" Ranma exclaimed. "Seriously? You aren't lying to me or anything are you?"

"No. As a robot I should never tell a lie," Azaka said.

"Wahoo!" Ranma yelled as he ran to the bridge.

"I can't believe it!" Yuri said, almost in tears.

"We're home." Natsumi cried.

Ranma ran through the corridors of the ship until he reached the bridge. Ayeka was not amused when Ranma nearly rammed right into her as he came to a screeching halt. Not only did he only come mere inches away from crashing into her, he ignored her when he finally did stop. He ran right past her and got as close as he could to the monitor that showed his home planet, earth. He had not seen it in so long, but he would never forget what it looked like.

"Wow, the earth." Ranma said in pure awe and excitement. "It's huge! Hey Ayeka, are we going to land here? A-Ayeka?"

"Ranma, calm yourself!" Ayeka yelled in frustration. Just barely seven hundred years ago, she would have giggled at Ranma's crazy antics, but due to the loss of her brother, she would have none of his shenanigans. Ranma cringed as he tore himself from the ship's monitor and bowed in front of Ayeka.

"I'm sorry your highness. I lost myself in excitement. It is my home planet after all," He tried to reason with the angered princess. Ranma kept his head bowed low, so he did not notice Ayeka's glare soften a bit when she realized the importance earth had to Ranma.

"Raise your head." Ayeka said after coughing into her hand. "Right now the criminal Ryoko is hiding on that planet. We have reason to believe that she may know something about Yosho's whereabouts."

"So your brother might be on earth too?" Ranma asked. "That's great!"

"There is no guarantee that Yosho is on earth." Ayeka said in a cold tone. She wanted to believe that her brother was still alive and on the planet right in front of her, but she was frightened that her hope would turn against her. Even though Ranma said those words in an attempt to encourage her, she did not want anyone to give her false hope. "However, we must capture Ryoko at all cost."

"Right!" Ranma said with a nod. If they could find Yosho, then Ayeka would surely go back to the way she was before she heard that he had disappeared.

"Achoo!" Ayeka sneezed. Afterwards she looked around the room as if she had done something embarrassing. "Begin the capture process as soon as we arrive. And you must refrain from firing."

"Yes ma'am!" Azaka said.

"We shall soon arrive at our destination," Kamidake said to

"Um, do you think that you should take a rest?" Ranma asked. "You might be coming down with a cold. You were frozen up 'til this point."

"I'm perfectly fine Ranma," Ayeka said. "It was just a sneeze."

"Okay, if you insist…" Ranma said, hesitantly.

Shortly after Ranma voiced his concerns, they arrived at Ryoko's location on earth. To Ranma's surprise, they seemed to have arrived at Japan. He did not say anything, but he could hardly hide the excitement on his face when he saw the Japanese style home where Ryoko hid. He would have said something, but he knew Ayeka would probably yell at him for some reason or another.

"Ryoko, come out!" Ayeka yelled. Apparently, she was speaking over a loud speaker of some sort. "Ryoko, Ryoko you must come out! I know that you are in there! You cannot get away from me now!" Ayeka's yelling eventually ceased, and she whispered to her servants, "Are you sure this thing is on?"

"Yes ma'am." Azaka answered.

"Then, what is she doing?" Ayeka asked in annoyance.

"Seriously?" Ranma asked. "I don't think she'd come out just because you told her to. I mean, if I were her I'd try and remain hidden as long as possible."

"Never mind," Ayeka growled. "Fire a warning shot!"

"I thought we were to refrain from using fire," Kamidake questioned. Just moments ago, Ayeka told him not to fire at Ryoko. This seemed a bit contradictory.

"That's an order!" Ayeka said to override her previous command. What was with these robotic servants? They should just follow orders without question!

Just as Ayeka had ordered, Azaka and Kamidake sent a warning shot right next to the home where Ryoko took alleged residence. Shortly after the warning shot went off another ship made an appearance. Ranma would never admit it, but he was scared. All he knew was that Ayeka kept barking out orders and Azaka and Kamidake followed those orders without question, which was a first for them. Explosions were flying, the ship rocked as it took counter fire, and Ayeka almost fell over a few times due to the unsteadiness of the ground they stood on.

"Azaka, Kamidake, Go! Capture her!" Ayeka commanded.

"Yes ma'am!" Azaka answered.

"Yes!" Kamidake resounded as he and Azaka teleported onto Ryoko's ship.

"Ayeka?" Ranma asked, hesitantly.

"What is it?" Ayeka hissed. She was obviously still in 'combat mode.'

"Have you done this before?" Ranma asked. He had to admit, Ayeka did not seem frightened at all during the fight.

"No, this is my first battle," Ayeka said after she let out a long exhale. It would seem that she had held her breath a bit. "Why? You were not frightened were you? I thought you were used to battle," Ayeka teased.

"Of course not!" Ranma practically yelled back. "I was just impressed, is all," he said shyly as he looked away in embarrassment.

"Oh…" Ayeka said. She did not expect Ranma to praise her ability to command. She almost felt bad about teasing him earlier. However, apologizing meant that she was wrong, and that was out of the question.

"Your highness," Kamidake's voice resounded over the ship's intercom system. "Ryoko has been captured and is ready for your interrogation."

"Excellent!" Ayeka said, happily. "Now I can find out where –."

"However…" Kamidake's voice trailed off as he cut off Ayeka.

"However?" Ayeka repeated. She was obviously annoyed. Ranma cringed a bit when he imagined what Ayeka might do if they made her angry.

"There was a young boy with her. He also had prince Yosho's sword with him." Kamidake answered.

"Oh, never mind the boy for now! Throw him in the prison." Ayeka commanded. She could care less about a random earth boy. For all she knew Ryoko could have been using him as a hostage. "Did you confiscate the sword?"

"Yes. You may pick it up in the interrogation room."

"Very well then, I'm on my way," Ayeka said as she headed towards the interrogation room. Ranma followed close behind her, but she turned around and said, "You may spend some time to yourself, Ranma. I would prefer to do this alone."

"Oh, sure," Ranma said as he scratched the back of his head. "I guess I could find something to do. Just call me if you need me."

"Yes, I will," Ayeka said as she turned around to leave.

Ranma sighed; there was really nothing to do on the ship. The ship had every convenience needed to make one feel comfortable. It was a Juraian royal ship after all, but Ranma just did not have the same tastes as the Juraian royal family. The only reason he never ripped his hair out in boredom was that he always stayed next to Ayeka. When he strayed from Ayeka's side, he usually trained with the Juraian royal guards.

With another sigh, Ranma left the command bridge. He finally made it back to earth, but it didn't really mean anything without his father by his side. Ranma silently wondered what his father was doing at that very moment. It pained him to think that his father may not have been as lucky as he was, and died of old age a long time ago. Though Ranma spent most of the time in frozen sleep, he was over seven hundred years old now. That Juraian water sure worked miracles.

Oddly enough, many light years away, Ranma's father had similar thoughts. It had been over seven hundred years since Genma Saotome had seen his son, but he refused to lose hope. Operation 'get Ranma hitched' was still underway. All he had to do was manipulate the pink haired nobleman that had seen fit to purchase, not only, Genma, but Soun and his daughters as well.

"Genma," Seiryo Tennan, the man that had purchased Genma, commanded.

"Yes, master! How can I help you today?" Genma asked as he bowed low to the pink haired noble.

"It would seem that I found the location of your son. The one you said would make a fine bodyguard. The one whose face is so ugly, my face will look ten times lovelier by just standing next to him, that son," Seiryo stated. It would seem that it to get Seiryo to look for Ranma, Genma had to do some coaxing.

"Really?" Genma asked. "That's excellent news! Thank you my lord! I am truly grateful."

"Think nothing of it, Genma. You are truly a fine servant," Seiryo commented. It was true that sucking up was one of Genma's strong points. "Also, that Akane girl certainly shaped up to be a fine body guard. I have to admit, I thought she was trying to assassinate me that one time she tried to cook, but everyone has their weak points. At least, normal people have their weak points. I, of course, am good at everything."

"Yes, seven hundred years of training did improve her fighting technique," Genma said. He had to admit, Akane had improved drastically as she trained to defeat her son. He was still curious as to why she hated someone she had never met so much. One would think that such hatred would die after a hundred years or so. No, it only made it stronger.

"Yes, but her cooking hasn't improved at all," Seiryo complained.

"I am sorry my lord. Also, where is my son?" Genma asked. He was tired of talking about the Tendo brat. He was more interested on his son's location.

"Ah, right. It would seem that he was purchased by the king of Jurai, and is employed by the first crowned princess of Jurai," Seiryo explained. "It would seem that King Azusa would like to arrange a marriage between his daughter and my beautiful self. A match made in heaven, no?"

"Yes, anything less than royalty is no good for you my lord!" Genma praised. "In fact, I hope the princess is at least on your level! We must visit her right away to make sure."

"Unfortunately she seems to be on a quest to find her long lost brother," The Seiryo sighed. "However, we will meet with Azusa soon. I'm sure he will arrange a meeting in due time."

"That's wonderful your majesty!" Genma cheered.

"Oh, I like the sound of that! Your majesty! Yes, I think I like that title!" Seiryo cheered along with Genma.

"Just wait until I tell Soun!" Genma thought to himself. "So, Ranma works for the princess. Wait…Ranma works for the princess? I wonder if he could seduce this girl and become a prince himself! That's my boy! You do your father proud!"

"Achoo!" Back on the ship, Ranma sneezed just as Ayeka had. "I wonder if I'm coming down with something now."

Ranma stood wandered around the ship aimlessly. He would work out every now and again, but nothing seemed to kill his boredom. He couldn't even find Sasami and the other girls. He silently hoped that they weren't getting into any trouble. He had a funny feeling that if Ayeka found out that they were on the ship, he would be the one that suffered the consequences.

"Ranma! Come quick!" Natsumi yelled as she ran up to Ranma.

"What's wrong?" Ranma asked. He was so lost in thought as he roamed aimlessly that the sudden outburst surprised him.

"Some guy just grabbed Sasami and started running!" Yuri explained.

"Wh-what? Wait a sec." Ranma said in shock. Who on the ship would do such a thing?

"Azaka and Kamidake are chasing him right now!" Natsumi cried.

"I'm on it!" Ranma yelled as he ran off to catch up with Sasami's kidnapper that he forgot to ask where they lost saw her.

Ranma, in a Ryoga like fashion, aimlessly ran around searching for Sasami. He finally found her. Ayeka, however, seemed to have found her first. Ranma walked into the room where Ayeka and Sasami were located, and noticed that the space pirate Ryoko, and the boy that Natsumi and Yuri had mentioned also stood in the room. It would seem that Ayeka heard some upsetting news, because her eyes were trembling in such a way that Ranma could not tell if she were angry or sad.

"What the heck is going on here?" Ranma yelled as he ran in between the two parties.

"I-I don't know!" The young boy from earth yelled. "I was just minding my own business when I got beamed on this ship! Then Sasami let me go and told me to get her sister's head ornament! Then-then she woke up and tried to have me killed!"

"I kind of feel for ya man," Ranma said with a wavering voice. He remembered when Sasami asked him to do the same. It wasn't pretty.

"Then let me go!" The boy yelled.

"Hey, Tenchi!" Ryoko called to the young boy as she hugged him close. "Call Ryo-ohki! You want to go home don't you?"

"Yeah! If you return my house too!" The boy yelled.

"I can't believe it, I won't believe it," Ayeka muttered. "It isn't possible!"

"Suit yourself," Ryoko mocked. "But you might want to get out of the way."

At that moment, Ranma noticed that the ground was shaking. He quickly grabbed Ayeka and jumped to the side just in time to dodge a giant spike that came up from the ground. That spike was a part of the spacecraft Ryo-ohki, the same ship that Ayeka had captured earlier. Ranma wasn't positive, but he could have sworn that it meowed.

"Are you okay?" Ranma asked. The rude entrance left the room destroyed.

"Wow, that kid's pretty quick on his feet," Ryoko mused. Right before entering her ship she turned to Sasami and said, "Bye little girl."

"Bye bye Tenchi," Sasami waved. She was quite calm about everything that was going on around her.

"Do something quickly!" Ayeka yelled, still in Ranma's arms.

"Yes ma'am." Azaka said. However, Azaka was currently on his side, and not in any shape to do anything.

"I will never forgive that woman," Ayeka said. "Could you put me down now?"

"Oh, sorry," Ranma said as he quickly put Ayeka back on her feet.

Ranma wasn't quite sure what happened next. Kamidake mentioned something about descending too fast, and Ayeka started yelling, "Attack, Attack," and the room shook like crazy. A monitor showed up with Ryoko's face on it. Ayeka yelled like crazy for her to stop, but Ryoko continued to taunt Ayeka regardless.

"Ayeka?" Ranma asked. He was scared again. There was so much chaos, and he could barely tell what was going on.

"Silence, Ranma!" Ayeka yelled.

"But the lake is getting bigger?" Ranma said as he pointed towards the monitor that showed earth.

"What?" Ayeka yelled in surprise as she looked to the monitor. Seconds later, everything went black.

The next day, during the morning, everyone sat at the Masaki family breakfast table. It turned out that Masaki was Tenchi's last name. Luckily, for Ranma, Ayeka, and the group, Tenchi was kind enough to allow everyone to stay at his house.

"So, you're actually from earth?" Tenchi asked.

"Yeah, I was born on earth a long time ago, and then I was captured by alien slavers." Ranma said as he dug into the breakfast set before him. Whatever hostility Tenchi had with his group had vanished over night.

"Eat this Tenchi!" Ryoko said as she shoved a bowl of food in front of Tenchi. "It'll make you grow big and strong. You're lucky! You don't even have a scratch after all we've been through together. I protected you at the risk of my own life!"

"Hm, I think that's because our ship took all of the damage." Sasami said. She also made herself right at home. "Our ship was attached to your ship, and we took the brunt of the fall."

"Is that why our landing was off?" Ryoko asked. "I almost wound up in that damn cave again!"

"I thought there was another young lady with you," Tenchi's father said. "Where did she go?"

"She's trying to salvage parts of her ship." Ranma sighed. He would have helped her, but even he couldn't lift a ship.

"Ranma, Sasami, you two, help me!" Ayeka yelled to Ranma, Sasami, Natsumi, and Yuri.

"But it's totally under the lake. We'll never get it out of there!" Sasami said, as matter of fact.

"Oh!" Ayeka growled as she ran outside. She spouted some nonsense about not being able to stay on the planet.

"I kind of feel bad for her," Ranma said.

"Hey, I've always wanted to see your planet! I'm having fun!" Sasami cheered.

"It's good to be home." Yuri nodded.

"No place like home." Natsumi laughed.

"All's well that ends well," Ranma said. "I guess."

"This didn't end well at all!" He heard Ayeka yell from outside.

"Well, it seems that we'll be staying here for a while," Ranma said. "Maybe we can spar later."

"R-right," Tenchi stuttered. He really didn't like fighting at all. He could already tell that Ranma's and his personalities clashed in more ways than one.

End Chapter 5

Authors Notes: I'm back. I'm sorry it took so many years to continue this story. I plan to continue my other stories as well. Hopefully, I'll find more time to write. This chapter has not been proof read. As stated earlier; if I ever get around to finishing the story, THEN I'll fix it.

I'd also like to point something out. Did something happen with ? I read my other chapters and words were missing from my story. I had to guess what word had originally been typed to read the sentence. It was usually the starting words of sentences…


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